Returning to Darkness
by ShadowmageAZ
Summary: Black Cat quit his life as Chronos's pet cat. But Creed is not willing to grant Train Heartnet freedom. Update: Ch 25.
1. The End of the Clear Skies

Disclaimer: Sue me if you wish. I don't care what you thi-- (:interrupted by police sirens outside: NO! Wait! I take it all back! I own nothing! Nothing!

As a side note, please ask questions or give complaints in the review section -- do NOT email me.

**The End of the Clear Skies**

No matter how many stars there were, there was always more darkness. No matter how much darkness there was, the stars would always shine bravely.

He watched the twinkling stars, wrapped in the darkness of the night. It was clear nights like these that reminded him of _her_. It was clear nights like these that brought the scent of bittersweet heartache.

"What's with that serious expression?"

Noticing his sweeper partner, Train pasted on a grin.

"Nothing. Is the Princess asleep yet?"

"She's old enough to decide her own bedtime." Shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch, Sven lit a smoke.

"I've known you for along time, Train, and I know something is wrong when you change the subject like that." He slid off the couch to join the brunette by the window.

"You're like one of those stars up there, Train."

Train Heartnet took on a clueless look. A star?

"You were born from a bright star, _her_ star, into the world of darkness you were once a part of."

"Aww. Sven! You're getting to sound like an old man!"

A vein throbbed above Sven's eye patch.

"Nice to know my philosophy is appreciated."

Annoyed, Sven turned toward the bedroom door, deciding to turn in for the night rather than endure the idiot's taunts. As he reached the door way, he caught a small smile on Train.

_Nice to know that baka appreciates me for something other than paying for his food._

* * *

"Creed-sama? Are you all righ---" 

Doctor was interrupted as a vase came hurling at him at a speed faster than a bullet. He managed to dodge but made an annoyed face as one shard of the vase ricocheted off the wall behind him and cut his cheek. A slight blood trail started to run down his face.

"Creed-sama, please calm down. It will be difficult to clean up the mess if you start throwing around objects." Doctor said as he passed a hand over the cut. The wound immediately started to smoke and a second later, it was completely healed.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE WORTHLESS! ALL OF YOU ARE WORTHLESS!" Creed's maniacal face smoothed out and softened, "Only _he_ is worth my praise. I _must_ have him! With him, we can overthrow the Chrono and rule! Together, together, togeth..."

The Doctor left Creed to his mumbling as he started to pick up the shattered pieces of the vase.

"Doctor..." He turned around.

"Hai, Creed-san?"

"Gather the members of the Hoshi no Shito. Tell them their target is Black Cat...dead or alive."


	2. Coming Storm

**Coming Storm**

"Sven-chan! I'm hungry! Let's go to a deluxe seafood restaurant!"

"Don't call me Sven-chan!" said the exasperated ex-investigator. "And of course we can go eat at a restaurant..."

"REALLY Sven-chan?"

"Yeah...as soon as you repay our 20 billion dollar debt."

"It's not my fault we have such a big debt!"

"Oh yeah? Who's the one that goes around crashing buildings, destroying rental cars, using up bullets---"

"---and eating all the food," injected Eve.

"Let's check if this town has any SS criminal bounties then!" was Train's ready answer, failing to acknowledge his responsibility for their empty wallets as he skipped happily into town.

Rotenberg was famous for its elaborate train station and its various connections all over the country, but the streets Train stepped into did not reflect its fame. The brick walls were slowly crumbling, and pavement was littered with cracks, and the road itself was but a muddy river. Curiously, every wall and lamppost was covered in peeling posters of a golden haired, red eyed man.

Train caught a crumbled peace of paper as a stray wind picked it up and threw it at his face. Smoothing out the surface, he saw it was the same as all the other posters. Under the red eyed man were the words:

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE **

_(Scribbled under hear were the letters: PREFERABLY DEAD)_

**FLASH GRENADE**

_Wanted for the bombing or derailing of over 50 trains and destruction of property._

**_$$200,000_**

Train grinned. "Here's our meal ticket."

* * *

"I've finally found you, Train Heartnet." 

The Taoist satisfied grin was interrupted with the annoying buzz of bees.

"What do you want?" said she said, turning around.

In the shadows of the alley, something shifted.

"I just need your abilities," came the sinister answer.

"UH!" Ekidonna gasped, as she felt the prick of a sting on her neck.

"Wha---? What are you planning Shiki?" Ekidonna asked as darkness fell upon her.

"Creed-san did not specify how Train was to be captured. Based on the previous encounter with Heartnet, I'm going to need more than just my abilities. Please excuse me, Ekidonna-san."

The bandaged person walked over to the collapsed body. The wind shifted slightly and suddenly, they disappeared. The only testament of what happened was the corpse of a dead bee, which disappeared in a mysterious puff of smoke.


	3. A Series of Random Events

**A Series of Random Incidents**

"So, ummm…exactly how was it that you planned to find this…Flash?" Eve enquired, inspecting her fingernails while using her nano machines to change their color, mustering as much boredom into her tone as possible.

Instead of the embarrassed pause she expected, Train winked at her instead.

"A town as prosperous as Rotenburg has its own Sweeper headquarter, so we can just drop in and catch any leads there," declared Train, clearly enjoying his one up on Eve.

* * *

"What would you like to have?" inquired the bartender nervously. It was his first day working in the Sweeper bar, and he'd been trained to deal with all kinds of fights and disagreements that usually erupted in the bar, but he had been caught off guard when he was asked to actually serve customers. Mentally, he ran through the lists of alcoholic beverages the three unlikely companions sitting in front of him would likely ask for. 

"Milk!" came the answer from the messy haired and messy dressed brunette. He blinked. _Milk?_

"Orange juice, please." requested the man with the eye patch. Noticing the bartender's raised eyebrows, he elaborated. "We have a job coming up, so I can't be drop dead drunk while running after criminals, now can I?"

Turning toward the cute grade school girl, he asked, "Would you like to have juice or milk like your companions?"

A flash of annoyance lit up her eyes as Eve requested, "a 1787 Chateau Lafite, please."

The bartender did a double take. "I'm sorry," came his shaky reply, "as that wine costs around $160 thousand…" He trailed off, not wanting to say the bar could not afford it, but not wanting to deny wine because of she seemed like a kid, for her knowledge on wines caused him to recalculate her age.

"What are you thinking little princess! We can't afford that kinda drink anyways. We'd need…" Train paused to count on his fingers, and then gave up. "Well, forget about Flash Grenade, We'd needCreed himself to pay off half the debt alone!"

The bar stilled into an unsettling quiet.

A moment later, Train, Sven, and Eve found themselves kicked out of the bar into a pile of garbage.

* * *

"What the hell!" growled Sven. 

Eve peeled a piece of rotting cabbage delicately off her intricate lace dress. "They were obviously unsettled by the mention of Flash…or Creed…or both."

"Yeah. You should keep your mouth shut Train!" Sven grumbled, hitting Train on the head with his briefcase.

There was no comical expression on the Black Cat's face though; it was reflecting a frown as the wheels turned in his head.

_Something's not right…_

Suddenly, gunshots and cries rang through the air, breaking his concentration. A blur flashed by him as another crashed right into him, making him fly back and land in a sprawl on the previous blur.

"Get off him damn you! You can't protect him! He stole my apple!" ranted the man that crashed into Train, unaware, or ignoring the fact, that he was preventing Train from getting up because he was sitting on him. Instead, he chose to jab behind Train's head with the point of his rifle, his pale and lined face scrunched up in concentration.

A whimper from behind his head startled Train from his surprise. In one fluid movement, he flipped around, grabbed the bundle under him, slipped out from under the man and stole his gun.

"Yo ojiisan. You might want to calm down a bit. It's just an apple, and he's just a kid. Anyways, from the looks of it, it's all in his stomach now." Looking at the little tyke, with his angelic cherubic face and the halo of blond hair, the man's face almost softened, before noting the dribble of apple juice running down the brat's chin.

"That APPLE was a MERCHANDISE from MY STORE! If the brat won't pay for it, then you will!" With that, he dragged a protesting Train down the street.

Eve and Sven blinked at each other, sweat dropped, and then ran after their struggling companion.

_Really, how **does** he get into these situations?_

* * *

"Ne, ojiisan? Why don't you just tell me the price of your apple so I can pay you already?" Train pleaded, his hand was burning from being dragged across the city. 

"That's the price," said the man, pointing through a broken display window of a rundown building. Inside was a rickety old shelf, containing exactly one broken wristwatch, five paperclips, half a bag of flour, and 2 banana peels. Train peered at the empty spot the man was pointing at, and realized there was a faded tag stuck to the wood.

"FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS! FOR AN APPLE!" Train nearly collapsed from a heart attack. "That's a bloody rip-off!"

The man seemed ready to argue; his skeletal hands were bunched into tight fists. His hollow eyes hardened, before an unreadable expression passed through them. His whole body collapsed into resign.

"I am sorry, but you know how times are. Ever since the reign of _him._"

"And who would be 'him'?' asked Sven, just as he caught up with Train with Even in tow.

The man glanced fearfully around, eyes skittering from shadow to shadow. Perplexed, he signaled that they should talk inside the rundown store.

Glancing at his companions, and then shrugging, Train stepped inside.


	4. Prey or Predator Just Who is Whom?

**Prey or Predator - Just Who is Whom?**

"He is Flash Grenade. Or was."

Train immediately perked up in his rickety stool as he heard the name. Sven's face was as if a sign in neon lights saying $200,000 was shining behind it. Eve just stared calmly across the worn dining table for the man to continue.

"He used to just go around blowing up trains and all that. Quite a rascal, but kind hearted if a little misguided. He was the leader of the Volts, a gang that ran the poor and neglected parts of this city. He used to stop by here all the time to nick a roll of bread while dropping off a bag of cash from the latest money train. He never harmed a soul though, always having his gang members 'kidnap' all the passengers before blowing up the train. All the stolen money was circulated through the neighborhood. Those bastards running the city were taxing us so much that even the most prosperous business was on the brink of bankruptcy. Flash saved all of us.

"Around 3 week ago, he…changed. It was his first kill. He bombed a passenger train. Then his gang members trashed the neighborhood in one terrifying night, breaking all the windows and holding all the citizens at gun point. He then blew up city hall. The higher ups were furious of course, but couldn't do anything, since all the sweepers and local police were part of his gang or supporting it. They decided to isolate the city from all commerce. Anyone who tried to flee Rotenburg was shot by the gang. There was no mercy in the resulting blood bath. Those of us that have survived are already running out of food."

Depression settled like a thick fog in the moldy building, and silence reigned.

"Where is this Flash?"

Sven and Eve started. Train's voice of unemotional and cold. His eyes were glowing an unearthly gold and the aura around him crackled with murder. The little boy, previously peacefully asleep on Train's lap, whimpered in his dreams.

Scared for his life, the man cried, "He runs his gang from where city hall used to stand!"

Train's face softened, and his eyes reverted to a warmer brown, but the aura still wavered around him. He smiled, a sight both comforting and frightening at the same time. "Don't worry ojiisan. I'll bring the Black Cat's bad luck to this Flash!"

And with that, he dumped the little boy into the man's lap, and swept out the door.

* * *

Now that Eve was outside again, she could vaguely sense sinister eyes staring at her and her companions from near-collapsing buildings. Determined to appear as casual as Sven, she stared resolutely ahead of her at city hall. Or the mound of ash that was left of it anyway. 

"Yo Flashy! We have some business with you!"

Eve mentally slapped Train upside the head. What kind of idiot was he, announcing himself to the enemy?

Suddenly, the shadows detached themselves from the walls and they were surrounded.

Train grinned, and Eve couldn't help but grin with Sven back in response. She sprouted wings and took to the air, before turning her hands into hammers and diving down at the enemies, picking them off one by one. She suddenly felt a foot on her back, and spun around to face the impish grin on Train's face, as he used her for a foot hold the vault over the heads of a murderous bunch of cronies. Eve steamed. How dare he! She hit her next victim harder then he deserved, observing as he crashed into one window, through the door of the room, and out the other window of the adjacent room. Eve shrugged. So what if she had anger management problems?

The winds suddenly picked up and all Eve had time to do was turn her head before she was picked up by a hot gust of air which consumed her in flames before it threw her clear across two buildings to crash land onto hard cement. The last thought she had before she blacked out was a shamefully unintelligent _OUCH._

* * *

Sven groaned. It hurt everywhere. Wondering what accident Train had gotten him into this time, he recalled the battle with the Volts and the explosion. It didn't help that hehad carriedexplosive bullets on him.

He struggled to see where he was, only to find that he couldn't move. Not even his eyelids would open to his dismay. It was so quiet. If he was a prisoner, he expected some bloody tortured screams at least. Sighing, he resigned himself to stare at the back of his eyelids, worrying about his companions.

* * *

As it happened to be, Train at that moment was chained to a wall 2 feet across the dank dungeon floor from Sven, shouting bloody murder at him. Above Sven was a young lithe man with platinum blond locks and red eyes, his spiked boots planted on his chest. Train could not help but feel a stab of unease at the empty depth in those eyes. 

A flat monotone voice cut through Train's cursing. "You will cease and desist that rambling Train Heartnet. In a moment, you will be released from your chains. If you resist or try to escape, you will find your friend crushed under my heels. Understand?"

"What do you want?" came Train's predictable answer.

There was a pause, as if Flash was awaiting a signal of some kind. Then he replied, his voice as dead as ever, "Creed-sama wishes to see you."

"CREED! That BASTARD!" Train's eyes flashed gold, his aura stretched to consume the entire room. Though Sven, even in his state of paralysis, flinched, the blond man above him remained unmoving.

A sudden sting in his right shoulder and Train stopped mid-rant. He could not talk. He could not move. His breathing even seemed unnatural. In his limited vision, he saw a bee turn into a puff of smoke.

_A Tao user! The one from the tower!_

A warping of space appeared before Train, and Ekidonna stepped out, eyes unnaturally flat. A bandaged person came after her, and took out a piece of parchment.

"Cutting seal!" With a wave of the paper, Train's chains were cut, and he collapsed bonelessly onto the ground.

Shiki stepped through the portal, and Flash obediently picked up Train and followed, leaving Ekidonna to step through and close the portal.

All the time, Sven lay on the dungeon floor, unaware of what had just transpired.


	5. A Reunion

**A Reunion**

Creed walked through the corridor, enjoying the abundant sunshine from the towering windows on both sides. Outside, he could see a serene lake turning golden with the setting sun. He shut his eyes, bathing in the golden warmth, before opening them with a snap, eyes set and determined.

The farther he walked down the hall, the harder it was to breath. Whether it was from the stomach-flopping anticipation of meeting Train again, or the suffocating death aura emitting ahead, he did not know. But Train was at the end of this corridor, giving off the dangerous yet intoxicating aura he used to have.

An image flashed through Creed's mind. The Black Cat was standing in the rain, eyes golden, hair wild, and a maniac grin on his face. The gun he held at point-blank range to the head of the "assignment" glinted dangerously with a life of its own. A gunshot resonated through the air. Creed watched in fascination as blood splattered onto Train's pale, eerily glowing skin.

_So beautiful._

Creed quickened his pace.

* * *

He was dropped on his knees. Unable to erect himself, he saw the marble tiles come up to meet him, mentally closing his eyes from the upcoming impact, even though his real eyes were unable to close, stinging from the lack of moisture. A sudden short tug on both his elbows prevented his collision with the ground, though he still could not lift his neck up. As he stared listlessly at the spider-line cracks between each rose tile, his ears picked up a quiet steps and a familiarly mercurial aura. 

_Creed._

He floundered against the helplessness that consumed him when he lunged at the blond maniac bunt found his own body unmoving. _So close. Within arms reach_. His inner hunter whispered. _With just one strike through the heart…_

_Death, death, death…_

* * *

Creed observed the slumped man. His position was one of defeat, but the murderous feeling around him gave a different opinion. The feeling suddenly flared and he could hear the stained glass windows shattering one by one down the hall. He observed as Shiki flinched, nearly dropping the man's arms. 

"Train…" The awe in his voice was cracked, and he realized that tears ran down his face.

So long…so long he had waited for this moment.

"Train," he softly tried again. "Train, look at me."

There was no movement. Anger flared uncontrollably.

"Are you still mourning for that dead witch! What is she to you? She's DEAD! Look at me Train! You are the only one worthy of looking at me as an equal. Acknowledge me as your partner. Look at –"

"Creed-sama," Shiki interrupted before he got around to repeating himself. "Since he was unwilling to cooperate, I had him paralyzed. He cannot move."

Anger redirected at the bandaged Taoist. "How DARE you!"

A hand lay on Creed's shoulder, stopping his urge for lunging at one of his companions.

"It was necessary, Creed-sama," came Doctor's soothing voice.

The blond stepped away from him, everything forgotten but the slumped man in front of him. He knelt down and lifted Train's head with a finger under his chin, gasping at the pair of murderous golden orbs glaring at him. His face was otherwise slack though, and disappointment settled in Creed's heart again.

"How long until he is able to move?" asked Creed, never taking his eyes off Train.

"It usually takes half a day, but since it's the Black Cat," Shiki sneered, "An hour or so is all he needs."

Creed nodded, rising. "Shiki, take Train down to the Doctor's lab and chain him up. Ekidonna-san, please create a warped space all around him."

Shiki nodded. Ekidonna followed obediently behind.

"Soon Train, soon…"


	6. Awakening Part 1

**Awakening – Part 1**

Eve awoke to the feeling of a soft bed underneath her and the light sting of alcohol on her brows. Confused, she vaguely registered the feeling of a heavy anvil pounding in her mid regions – a sign of her nano machines working way past their limit – as she pushed her way up into a sitting position.

"You shouldn't move you know. Hell, you should be dead by all accounts."

_Ojiisan._ Memories flashed quickly past her eyes, before the recollection of the explosion sent pain tingling down her spine. She collapsed gratefully back down, letting the annoyingly clumsy ministrations continue.

"Where's Sven?" she asked scratchily.

He pointed at the makeshift bed of blankets behind him. "I found the eye patch guy dumped in an alley two blocks away from here. I was scavenging for food through the garbage. I thought he was a rotting corpse. I was mentally thinking of where to bury him before I saw that he was breathing shallowly. Amazing that he survived with all his limbs intact, though he hasn't woken up yet."

Eve cut off the mindless babble in favor of staring at Sven. There were so many bandages wrapped around him that he looked like a mummy. It would have been funny had the situation not been so serious. She bet Train would laugh in this situation anyways. Speaking of whom…

"Where is the baka?"

"You mean the brunette that was with you?"

Eve nodded, looking around for Train, probably casually leaning against a doorway somewhere, drinking some milk and acting as if nothing happened.

"Well, I found him," Ojiisan jabbed behind his back at Sven, "by chance. You miraculously came flying out of nowhere and landed on my doorsteps. I have no idea where your companion is." His tone was one of uncaring casualness, though his eyes glittered with concern.

Eve's guts clenched in dread, even as she reassured herself that Train was alright, probably out there lost on the streets, spending all that was left of their money on sushi or something equally stupid. Even so…

"Don't worry Nee-chan! Train nii-san will come back and help Kou steal more apples!" came a little chirp from underneath her bed. She looked down, only to come face to face with an angelic smile that was missing a few baby teeth.

"Kou will help Nee-san look for him. Kou is really good at finding people. Kou has lotsa people who can help. Aniki is always helping Kou. Aniki can find Nii-san. Aniki knows everyone -" The said Kou dragged Eve out of bed, oblivious of the wince on her face or the reprimanding old man at her bedside.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Eve pounced at the chance to squeeze her question in as the little boy stopped to take a deep breath of air.

The little boy blinked. "To the Volts of course."

Eve stared, too shocked to do anything but follow the boy onto the streets.

* * *

Train smiled. The painful tingling was leaving his body, and in its wake, his body control was returning to him. He looked around, noting the silvery white mist that surrounded him in a tight cylindrical structure. Following the wall of mist up with his eyes, he saw it reached far into the distance, though he could make out a speck of black sky if he squinted. No escape way up there. 

The presence of someone familiar suddenly registered on his instincts, and he watched with a cold face as Creed Deskance stepped through the mist. He was still burning with rage from the insults Creed had thrown at Seiya, but he kept calm pretty well considering.

"Train, join the Hoshi no Shinto and rule to world by my side." _So it was right onto business huh?_

Noting the silence, Creed pushed resolutely on. "I know I've made the offer before, but you must reconsider. After all, your friends have abandoned you to me. They are powerless. I, on the other hand, can take over the world." Creed stroked Train's cheek with the back of his knuckles. "We can have so much fun together," he whispered.

Train could barely refrain from the shudder of disgust that rose from within. He stared into Creed's dark eyes, taking pleasure in the hope there, before spitting out a succinct "Never."

Disappointment, pain and longing rushed into Creed's face, before being completely covered up by his maniacal grin.

"I had hoped that you would answer differently. But, since I was underestimating that witch's power over you, I guess I must use desperate methods." Here, Creed stepped away from Train, turned around, and stuck his head through the mist. An echoing, eerie sound could be heard from the other side.

"Oh Docter!"

The said man stepped through the mist, a huge cart following after him. Various sinister tools lay glinting dangerously on it. Train shuddered when he caught sight of 40 different scalpels in a neat row under an electric razor.

"Mmm…I'll let Doctor take care of you Train. You'll wake up much happier." With that, Creed skipped out into the mist, leaving Train to stare nervously and yet defiantly Doctor.

Doctor raised a needle. "Do you wish to have anesthetic Train-san?"

Train ignored him, and looked up at the sky instead. Freedom was so close, but he had a feeling that this was going to be the last time he saw those twinkling stars.


	7. Awakening Part 2

**Awakening – Part 2**

Creed peered through the silvery mist, and, with the help of Ekidonna's hand sending Tao through physical contact, he was able to see through the mist. His heart skipped a beat as Doctor giving the signal to go ahead and destroy the warp barrier.

Ekidonna released her hold on the power, and the mist dissipated.

Doctor was kneeling on the ground, using his Tao to heal a bloody gash on Train's skull. This seemed insufficient, however, since a many other cuts were still bleeding even with the Doctor's healing powers. Train Heartnet sprawled in a pool of his own blood.

Creed resisted the urge to swat the doctor aside and crowd around Train. After all, what could he do?

Doctor picked Train up in his arms gently, and slowly rose, his lab coat smearing with blood.

"Creed-san, please initiate 496–B."

Creed reached a wide glass tube that stretched to the ceiling, like many others in the lab. He coded in the password and watched as the tube sank into the metal platform base. Impatiently, he watched Doctor carry Train over, mentally goading him to hurry. He cursed the fact that they could not operate on Train directly in the laboratory. With his killing aura however, Train would have shattered all the lab equipment as he had demonstrated with the stain glass windows. So instead, Ekidonna created a warp in the lab, borrowing a piece of space from the front lawn of the mansion for Doctor to operate in.

He snapped out of his reverie and watched as Doctor laid Train on the platform and stripped him of his blood-soaked clothes, his wounds leaving bloody streaks on the metal. He hurriedly typed in the code to raise the glass tube again, so suddenly that he almost chopped the Doctor's arm off with the glass rim in the process. He watched in worry as a liquid fluid flooded the chamber, until Train floated serenely within the tube of liquid.

"I am sorry Creed-san that the process was so inefficient. However, my tools are not as sharp as your invisible blade, and therefore caused more damage to the cells. The nano machines in the liquid will fix that though. I will watch Train-san's status for now until he stabilizes. Please go get some sleep."

Creed took one last longing look at Train's calm face, long lashes, and dark halo of hair before leaving.

* * *

Eve looked nervously at the surrounding gang members. Each wore black trousers and a vest with a lightening bolt on the back. She gulped nervously as she saw a man with singed hair and a huge bump on his head, recognizing him as the one she had hit through a wall and out the other side of the building and therefore saving his life from the explosion in the process. How ironic. 

"Ne, Taku-san, so can you help Kou with finding Train onii-san or not?" Kou asked, oblivious to the man's glower at Eve.

"Sorry, kid. Best I know, he disappeared with you Aniki."

Kou pouted, "But Taku-san! Kou promised to find Train onii-san!"

Taku grew annoyed at the brat's whining. "Look kid, I take care of ya cuz you ah the Volt's lil' bro." At this, Eve gasped. "However, he betrayed us. Even when we helped him kill the neighbors he useda protect, we were entirely loyal ta him. Afta all, if ya can't trust him, who could ya trust?"

"Apparently, nobody," piped up another gang member, bitterness seeping from his tone.

Taku glared at the man, making him shrink back. "Flash had half ta gang in that fight with that girl," he pointed to Eve, "and her two companions. He used half the gang as bait! He blew them all up!" Betrayal and rage were evident in his tears. "When you find your aniki kid, tell him he's a dead man. We gonna hunt him down and show him what's it like to betray your own gang."

This time, the dangerous tone in his voice even registered in the little mind of Kou, and he frightenly backed off. A second later, Eve found herself being towed by Kou in a panicked dash away from the murderous aura of the Volts gang.

* * *

Creed found himself walking through the same exact corridor once again, careful not to step on the broken shards of glass from the windows. He really had to get someone to clean this up, but the servants won't dare to walk through this hall anymore. Amazingly, and to the delight of Creed, Train's murderous aura still lingered in the air, a suffocating and frightening presence. 

As he reached the lab, he fought down the mounting excitement and calmly asked Doctor, "Is he ready?"

Catching a little bit of the anticipation that leaked from Creed's control, Doctor smirked. "Of course, Creed-san. He will awaken at any moment. During the hour after his awakening, he will only vaguely recall his past, and some selective memories have been erased. Because of this, his personality has receded back to the same one as in the Chrno days. He will also be very vulnerable to suggestion during this time, and perfect to mold as you wish." With a satisfied bow, Doctor left the lab.

Creed turned back to Train's floating form. He was so unearthly. He held his breath as eyes slowly fluttered, and then opened to reveal cat like eyes.

A voice rang coldly and demandingly from within the glass.

"Creed-san."


	8. Awakening Part 3

**Awakening – Part 3**

Eve collapsed onto the bed, taking in desperate breaths of sweet fresh air. She looked down and noticed Kou had already fallen asleep. What a kid. One minute, he was running for his life and the next, he was sleeping contently in the arms of a stranger.

Sighing, she sat up and tucked in the little kid. Taking one last look at Sven before she decided to go to bed, she was startled to find herself staring into his alert eyes.

Sven was awake! Joy flooded her heart, though unease began to creep into Eve as she watched his panicked flickering of eyes.

"Sven? Are you alright?" she asked tentatively.

There was no reaction except for an increase in the man's panicking.

"Sven! Sven!" Eve leapt off her bed, and grabbed Sven's arm. "It's okay!"

Sven stopped. His arm reached out, groping up her arm and to her face. His eyes stared unfocused out into the distance.

"Eve?" came his shaky voice.

_Oh God! He's blind!_ "I'm here, right here." Eve's teary voice managed to choke out.

"Little princess? Why is it so dark? I can't see anything."

Eve broke down into sobs, chanting "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" into Sven's arms.

"Little princess? Are you crying? Why are you so silent? Why won't you say a word?"

The only answer in the barren room was Eve's shocked silence, and another bout of heartfelt weeping.


	9. Two Twisted Minds

Ano…sorry about the short previous chapter. I just felt like cutting it off. So in compensation, I updated with more than one chapter!

As always, reviews are appreciated.

**Two Twisted Minds**

"What has happened." It was not a question; it was a demand for an answer. The piercing eyes and frigid tone ensured a painful death to those who failed to meet his demand.

Creed took in the calculating cold glare of the Black Cat, and, despite the thrill of finally having Train back, decided to proceed cautiously.

"What do you remember, Train?"

Train frowned. Answering a question with a question was hardly helping his patience. However, this was Creed-san…

"You and I are partners for the organization Chronos Time Guardians." Better to keep the answer short, and general, in case this was all a plot to extract information. Train analyzed the situation. He was naked, incased in glass, and floating in some kind of breathable liquid. This meant: weapons – 0, invisibility – 0, movability - 0. There couldn't be a worse situation than this.

"We _used_ to work for the Chronos," Creed replied. He was not sure whether or not to continue on with his line of reasoning, jealously making it a hard choice. He decided, however, that half truths were more effective than total lies, so he continued, "Before you were betrayed by them. They killed Seiya, remember?"

A woman in a kimono. A smile. A wound pouring out blood even as Train desperately tried to stop it. These flashes were accompanied by vague feelings of loss and anger.

Noting the flickering of emotions on Train's stony face, Creed sighed in relief as well as annoyance. _Even with half his memories erased, that witch still haunted him! _It was the right decision to tell him about her after all, as he seemed to refuse to forget her no matter what.

"After the betrayal, you and I decided to fight Chronos' corruption by forming a group called the Hoshi no Shito. We gave each member the power of Tao, and we will slowly purify the world!"

Even as a side noted with suspicion how horridly eroded his sharp memory was, Train's mind was already accepting Creed's words. His reasoning was so logical that it did not need analysis, just like the reasoning that 1 plus 1 obviously equaled 2. Entranced, he was drawn into Creed's every word. Something squashed his suspicions into dust.

* * *

He watched the twinkling stars, wrapped in the darkness of the night. It was the first time in his memory that he truly observed them. They gave him a bittersweet sort of feeling. In letting his hardened and weary heart reach out to each bright, piercing point, he could almost feel the warmth there; a feeling of comfort and hope that evaded his soul teasingly. 

"What are you thinking?"

Ignoring Creed's approach, he closed stepped inside the mansion and closed the balcony doors behind him.

Oblivious of Train's silence, Creed continued formally, "The Hoshi no Shito has offered you the power of Tao. Do you accept it?"

Train finally lifted his gaze to meet Creed's. Tao. It was a dangerous and corrupting power. Accepting it meant no escape, meant following Creed. He traced the XIII tattoo on his collar bone. It meant supporting – no, leading – everything that Chronos had fought against.

"Yes."

Creed smiled, as if he expected the answer. "Like the darkness that shrouds the skies, you can only be kept at bay by the sun for so long. You are finally back, my dear Black Cat."

* * *

"Ne? Ne? So you really don't remember anything past Saya Minatsuki? Don't you remember fighting against u—" 

"Kyoko, Creed-sama has forbidden that talk."

"But _Sheldon,_ it's no fun! And why is he ignoring me…"

Train quickly tuned out the annoying blathering of the high school kid and her babysitter. What was Creed thinking, taking in a teenager? The incessant noise she made equated more than what the rest of the Hoshi members made together.

"Che. What do you expect from Creed's pet anyways?" A light haired boy pointed out in an arrogant tone.

The boyimmediately found himself looking down at the bladeless hilt of Creed's invisible sword. Summoning a wind barrier, Leon managed to slow down Creed's thrust, but could not deflect it even with his hurricane speed wind. The sword managed to prick his abdomen before extending an extra inch and piercing his intestines.

Creed pulled out his sword, leaving the boy clutching at the wound. "I'll allow no one to disrespect Train. He is worth more than you, little brat!"

Doctor sighed in relief. Evidently, the presence of Train calmed Creed down enough to not kill the boy. Though,the scene reminded the members uneasily of how Creed had coldly killed Drum Glaster after he underestimated Train's gun skills. Thankfully, Creed's charisma held tight the loyalties of the Hoshi, and they said nothing.

"What do adults know about respect anyways? You are just like the rest of them Creed, a hypocrite!" Though the words were muttered under the gasping breaths of the youth, Doctor heard it, and from the reactions of Creed and Train, he could tell they heard it too.

But even before Creed's cold fury could manifest itself, Train's eyes narrowed and glowed a golden hue. Doctor did not blink, but he could not help but think he did, as one moment, the Black Cat was across the room, and the next moment, he stood calmly in a shower of blood by the boy's decapitated corpse.

The room fell into stunned silence as even Kyoko stopped her chatting. The birds outside had long fled the murderous aura inside the chamber. The only sounds that could be heard were soft _plops _as the blood dripped from Train's fingertips into a growing puddle of blood by his feet.

Finally, Creed smiled. "Welcome, Messengers of the Stars, to one of our rare gatherings. And, witness the power of the Black Cat!"

* * *

Wasn't that scene with Creed a bit reminiscent of Sven's talk with Train in the first chapter? Poor Train's mind is so twisted by Creed's …well…twisted mind that he doesn't even remember Sven. And poor Leon! He got killed so early; he didn't even get to meet Eve! shrugs Oh well. I'm evil for making this happen – but that doesn't mean I'll stop XD. 

And everyone – I just found out there's a Black Cat anime! The site's totally in Japanese and I cannot read a word though, and it was released this year, so I guess there's no fan subbing. Sigh…I still want to watch it though.


	10. Meeting, Drinking, and Waking Up Naked

Hmmm…there are so many untied ends in this story that I'm afraid I'm gonna spend the next ten chapters just explaining all the crap instead of getting on with the plot. As you can see, the chapters are getting longer in compensation. Oh well, that's life.

I find that though the previous chapter titles are funny in their own way, this one implies…well…you'll see.

**Meeting, Drinking, and Waking up Naked**

"As you know, our spy network connects half the world already. Three days ago, one of my spies, Preta **(1)**, was killed."

Actually, Doctor observed, Preta was just bearly alive when he gave information report to Creed. Creed had killed the Taoist himself in a fit of rage by throwing him out the window overlooking a cliff.

"Preta?" Maro asked, as he paused in eating some sushi Kyoko had made for him, "Isn't he the Eroding Taoist sent to spy on the Peace conference in the Kingdom of Hikarimono?" **(2)**

"Yes. He was attacked by the Ceberus team, composed of Chronos Number V, Naizer Blackheimer, Number VII, Janus Hazard, and Number XI, Belga J. Hard."

The room was silent, and there were no murmurings. Even so, the air filled with tension. Many of its occupants had encountered this crude but effective team with more or less luck than Preta. It was one aura in particular though, that just dripped with hatred. A normal person would have died in fright standing anywhere within a half a mile radius from it.

Doctor laughed inwardly as he realized that Creed had told Train that V, VII, XI were the ones that killed Saya. The clever devil indeed.

He observed amusedly as people began shifting away from Train Heartnet, leaving a wide open circle. Some moved away unconsciously out of a self-preservation instinct. Some moved away out of respect. But the one group Doctor admired were those who moved out of fear. These people were the ones who did not rely entirely on fickle instincts or a chaotic leader, but on their own judgment of the situation. These were the people who could become the future elite in the Hoshi.

And then there were, of course, those who feared for a different reason. These people emitted an aura almost as bloody as Train's, but more uncontrolled. Getting anywhere near Train would inflame their fighting aura and dissolve their resistance against the temptation to pounce him and demand for a fight to the death. They were the wild cards. Some would not even be worth controlling, and some would become the top of the elite. _But all of them_, Doctor observed cynically, _would die in a blaze of bloody glory._

"…vast deposit of Orihalcon **(3)** was discovered in one of its mines. The country is infested with Chronos numbers, and a deal will no doubt be transacted soon. Our goal is to intercept this deal and steal the Orihalcon, and then secure the mine from the Kingdom and Chronos. It will be a great loss for the Chronos and a great gain for us. Failure is never tolerated. Please be ready by your stations on that day. Dismissed."

The members stood still in two wide circles, one around Creed and one around Train, for another second, before each began to slip off into the shadows or flash out in a blaze of elemental glory. Another moment later, and the entrance hall was empty save Creed, Train, Doctor, and the mutilated corpse of Leon Elliot.

* * *

Creed lead Train into another one of the numerous rooms in the maze he called a mansion. He handed him a small, ceramic bottle. 

"Drink this."

The only orders Train had ever obeyed were from Chronos. He found himself, however, complying without question to Creed. He shot a this-better-not-be-poison-or-I'll-come-back-from-the-dead-and-kill-you glare before tossing back the dose.

Darkness immediately surrounded him and he collapsed into the waiting arms of Creed Diskence.

* * *

Creed observed the young man in his arms with nothing short of obsession. Train's unruly hair cast his closed eyes into shadow, creating an omniscient glow about him even in his state of unconsciousness. His slender arms dangled limply before Creed gently tucked them inside his embrace. The XIII tattoo contrasted darkly against his pale smooth skin. 

He sighed contently, and stayed kneeling on the ground for what seemed like hours, basking in the content of having the Black Cat in his arms. He did not want to move, but he knew he should tuck Train into bed before his legs fell asleep entirely.

Creed rose unsteadily, and walked out a door into an adjacent bedroom. It was a small compared to most room in the mansion, meaning it was bigger and grander than a 5 star hotel suite. It was decked in a rich dark red with velvet black trimmings. Creed stared longingly at the plush red sofa before staring resolutely at the staircase leading up to the balcony where the bed was. He nearly tripped over the thousand dollar Persian rug before he reached the staircase. Finally on the landing, he drew away the transparent, dark curtain veils and gently dumped Train on the soft, 4-poster bed. He drew up the velveteen silk blanket and gently brought it up to Train's chin. Exhausted, Creed finally gave into temptation and crawled into bed next to Train and fell asleep.

* * *

Creed awoke to the bloody screams of his bed partner. Panicked, he rolled out of bed and looked over at Train, who had bit through his lower lip in the futile attempt to keep from making any noises. 

Creed tried to shake Train awake, but to no avail. His hands slipped on the sweat soaked shirt as he tried to pull Train up by the shoulders. He tried again, pulling on his arms, but slipped again. Frowning at his lacking grip, he realized his hands were coated with blood.

Train was soaked in blood.

* * *

"...comatose. Lacerations covering 80 percent of his body surface. Internal bleeding," Doctor ticked off the injuries on his fingers, "4 broken ribs and 10 reopened old bullet wounds..." 

Creed Diskence shook under each word. How was that possible? He had checked for poison in the potion a million times, not to mention Doctor himself processed it. The potion was enough to ignite one's inner ki and bring forth the natural genetic ability in each human. The subject was supposed to just fall into a trance for 10 hours and awaken with the realization that he or she could sprout wings or control flames or something. How could it affect Train so?

It had been a near death experience as Train was rushed to Doctor by Creed after he discovered his bloody and battered state. Doctor immediately put him back in stasis chamber 496-B and released the maximum amount of nano machines into the healing liquid as possible.

Still, the Grim Reaper had been looming over Train for the last three days. Stability had only been gained 3 hours ago. Doctor had worked tirelessly between running checks on Train and calming Creed's hysterical mind. He was near collapse, but he wanted to do a final check on Train.

Suddenly, Train's heart rate increased 3 folds and the serenely floating body started to go into spasms. Creed gasped as a glow lit Train from within, casting odd shadows across the lab. The liquid inside the chamber bubbled turbulently before swirling into a mini cyclone around him. His hair whipped wildly and his eyes suddenly opened and flashed a gold so bright it was almost white. It was like seeing a god, and Creed knew the tiny glass chamber, though 2 feet thick and bulletproof, could not withstand the power within.

Creed pulled Doctor behind a metal counter just as the glass exploded spectacularly in glittering shards. The lights blinked on and off throughout the lab and then burned a glaring white before they all exploded. Creed risked a look over the counter, despite the glass debris swirling around in chaos, seeking to cut and draw blood. Train Heartnet was floating a foot above the wreck that used to be the chamber, and electricity crackled around his form. Suddenly, all the glass stopped speeding, trembled, and fell to the ground, and Train fell with it.

Creed's heart pounded, and his mind wondered with dread if he was dead.

He had no need to worry, for Train suddenly pulled out of the remains of the 496-B. Blood trailed from little cuts from the glass all over his naked body, mirroring Creed's physical state. For the second time in as many days, Train Heartnet demanded in his emotionless voice.

"Creed-san. What has happened."

* * *

**(1)** Chapter 132. 

**(2)** It means "shiny metal" in Japanese. It also means fish with the silver skin left on it, so I couldn't resist naming a country after fish, as this is a Black Cat fanfiction ..

**(3)** The metal Train's gun, as well as the other Chronos members' weapons, is made out of Orihalcon.

So…the real fighting action will begin in another chapter or two or three...

Doctor's personality is really fun to write, though I'm not sure I have it right. It'll develop quite a lot through the fic, so enjoy!


	11. Glass Shards

:Sigh: I'm still debating on whether to have pairings or not. Considering the lack of girls in this fanfic so far (other than kids like Eve and Kyoko), it's gonna be slash. And since it's my first fic, I'm not sure I want to start right off with slash. But hey, maybe some subtle implications. :shrugs:

**Glass Shards**

Train walked down the hallway. He had found this abandoned corridor a week ago, when he needed a solitary place away from the prying eyes all the Taoists and servants, and Creed's alarming motherhen persona. It was only a near death experience; he'd had a million of those induring the Time Guardians. Besides, he was completely healed, so Creed had no need to worry.

Train stopped in the center of the hall. He had dubbed the place the "Glass walkway", since the pieces of glass scattered all across the ground glittered in the sunlight pouring through the huge windows on each side. The glass was like the glass that exploded across the lab when he awoke from his Tao trance. It was like standing admist the eggshells he broke through as a newly hatched chick. Ever since then, he had felt an enormous energy swirling inside just within reach. Cautious of another explosion like the one in the lab, he was hesitant to use it unless forced.

The aura around the place was also very familiar, like a time capsule of his childhood only to be now rediscovered. Here, where the lake sat serenely outside both sides of the hall, he felt that he was peacefully alone out on a great expanse of the ocean.

Even so, all that Sardius **(1)** had taught him lurked in the corners of his awareness. There was not a moment of peace, for the murderous cold heartedness and constant vigilance against his enemies would never leave him. From the moment he accepted the gun from Sardius, he had not started a road to revenge for the death of his parents, but a road to eternal darkness.

Yet still, the images of his parents haunted him enough to give him nightmares, and ensured that he never killed women or children. Creed said that this point was a weakness, and even though he had not agreed before, preferring to call it compassion, he could not help but agree with everything Creed said. Oh, he could kill in cold blood just like Creed. But instead of enjoying the carnage, all he could feel was the emptiness inside his heart intensify with each kill. The emptiness numbed all other emotions of guilt or self-disgust, and in the end, he became addicted to the feeling of dull ache inside his heart. It was like getting drunk and forgetting about all other thoughts.

It was addiction to killing.

He shook his head, and suddenly felt an urge to be closer to the outside scenery of nature and peace. He leaned out the window, placing a hand on the low ledge, and suddenly took in a sharp breath. He brought his hand away from the edge, and found a piece of stray glass embedded in the skin, shining a turquoise green that contrasted wonderfully with the ruby drops of blood forming around the cut.

* * *

Train was on his way to ask Kyoko for some bandages (they had grudgingly come to something Kyoko called "friendship" and Train called "one-person-pestering-the-other-non-stop"), when he was stopped in Greenhouse 1-A (where, Creed had said, all the poisonous flowers grew) by an inquiring doctor. 

"Ah? Train-san. Never thought you'd be the flower watching type of guy." He absentmindedly pushed up his glasses, while taking a solid stance right in front of Train that showed no hurry in moving aside.

Since it was either finish up the conversation with Doctor or vault over his head into a nest of poisonous vines, he answered, "Never thought you'd be the type either."

"I am just here to collect some poisons to experiment with," Doctor answered, seemingly in no urgency to collect the said poisons.

Patience running out, Train gestured at the plants behind him. "Then please get on with it," he growled, adding a sarcastic "I wouldn't want to keep you from important work" for the sake of polite formality.

"Indeed…" Doctor pondered, until he caught sight of blood trailing down from a diagonal slash on Train's wrist.

He snatched up Train's right hand in a vice-grip.

"Yare, yare, you've hurt you hand." He brought it up to his mouth and licked away the dripping blood.

Train felt the cut heal under the tongue as annoyance lit up the fire within him. He pulled back his other hand, and in a snakelike manner, it rushed forward to strike Doctor. Train pulled back in surprise as Doctor, without moving, took the blow to his heart.

The Taoist smiled. The wound was smoking, healing at an incredibly fast rate. Even as Train pulled out his hand, the wound was closing in, threatening to crush his fingers in the healing wound.

The doctor frowned in mock disappointment. "Now that wasn't very nice." He pulled out a scalpel, "I think you need a personality adjustment."

_Do you wish to have anesthetic, Train-san?_

Train froze. One side of his mind was screaming something along the lines of "ARE YOU FREAKIN' CRAZY? Move…RUN!" but the rest of him was paralyzed with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

"Train?" The concerned tone in the voice cut the invisible strings that held Train rooted to the ground, and he took a hasty leap backwards. He stared spitefully at Doctor's smirking face, brain rushing with calculations on Taoist's abilities before an invisible compellation forced him to turn toward the voice.

Creed-sama's face softened in concern for him, before hardening again. "What was happening between you and Doctor?"

Train wanted to say it was nothing, but it was Creed-sama. He could not lie to him, but one look at Doctor, as well as Creed's maniacal expression, and he decided otherwise. "Doctor was healing my cut when I reacted unpleasantly to his sudden help. It was my fault of course." He hated the triumphant pleasure in Doctor's face, but he could not bring himself to face this man after that paralyzing moment of…of what? Was it fear? No, he was just concerned that Creed would turn homicidal and injure himself. That's all.

Creed stared at Train's stony mask, sent a suspicious glare toward Doctor, before turning around and walking away.

Doctor watched Creed leave, and then turned back. "Now Train-san…"

He trailed off as he realized he was talking to an empty room.

* * *

**(1)** The guy who murdered Train's parents and taught Train his gun skills. 

Oooh. Angst…or at least, my version of it. And I'll leave you to interpret the scene with Doctor. Train does not remember the operation, but he can sorta sense some kinda familiarity about the scene. Stuff like this will happen more often as the story progresses...

Train's Tao powers will be revealed later on, and also the reason why he reacted so violently when he took the draught.


	12. Machinations

Gah! I started this chapter with an empty mind, so it was really, really hard and slow. My mind has this bad habit of never focusing on the task and tends to wander.

The good news is that since my mind wandered so much during this chapter, it thought up a gazillion scenes for the next gazillion chapters…yay! No seriously, I have the whole story plot planned out vaguely, and even the next two stories in the series!

Of course…with the unique characteristics of one such as myself, it'll will take forever and another day. cough laziness cough. I need encouragement and enthusiasm…yeah yeah…this is a blatant demand for more reviews…

**Machinations**

Creed had left Train and Doctor before his temper rose and did some serious harm to two of his most trusted companions. Of course, that meant Creed had to search for an outlet to all his frustration. So, he spent the better part of the day hacking at the trees surrounding the mansion with his invisible blade. No need to say, that with a maximum ki output of 80 meters, his invisible blade decimated the entire forest. After collapsing from overuse of Tao, he was found by Doctor and brought back to the lab for healing.

As Doctor bandaged up his many wounds, a backlash of over usage, Creed asked, "So…would you mind telling me what that was all about?"

Doctor paused in his action of wrapping Creed's wrist with a roll of gauze, and decided that playing innocent would get no where. That did not mean he had to tell the whole truth though.

"I met Train-san in the greenhouse, and he seemed in a hurry. I discovered he had a cut across his wrist, and immediately thought he had tried to suicide. I wanted him to come back to the lab with me immediately, but he would not comply," Doctor reported.

Creed was alarmed. _Suicide?_ "And why would he try to kill himself?" he asked sarcastically.

"The operation is not without fault. It causes mental instability and mixed hormonal reactions. Perhaps in his confusion…"

Creed thought about it. The possibility of there, but the explanation had too many holes. A normal person might have tried to commit suicide, but this was Train Heartnet. _The Black Cat **never** took the easy way out, even when he was in his corrupted state_, Creed thought, remembering the tower incident and where Train sacrificed his arm to locate the imagine blade. And if Train did wish to commit suicide, he would no doubt do it by bullet, and would not miss and fail by any chance.

Doctor was lying…but why?

"Very well, I will talk to him," Creed said, as much to make Doctor think that he believed him as to take care of his own business, remembering why he'd seek out Train earlier.

Doctor, however, did not miss the flash of disbelief on Creed's face before it melted into a pleasant visage of compliance. He inwardly smiled. Humans were naturally easy to manipulate.

* * *

3 hours, 48 hallways, and 21 petrified servants later, Creed could still not find Train. He had Shiki search with worker bees. He had Sheldon check the surveillance cameras. He'd even reduced himself to starting up a conversation with Kyoko, hoping she'd seen him. And really, it was a miracle that his patience even held out this long. He'd need to find another forest to decimate later.

Walking by the armory for the 12th time, Creed caught the billowing of a coat down the hall. Drawing near, he found himself alone in the middle of a hall. The hall where Train's aura had destroyed all the precious stained glass windows.

"What do you want." A voice by his ear demanded monotonously. Creed could barely keep his startled reaction in check. He could feel the hot breaths on his neck and the slight exhalations in his ears. Other than that, however, he could not sense Train anywhere. The lingering aura in the hall matched Train's murderous aura so perfectly that he really _was_ one of the shadows. This world had morphed into the Black Cat's domain, and he seemed very territorial.

"I've come to you for two things," Creed said. "One: Doctor thinks you're suicidal."

The only answer Creed received was a death glare aimed at his back. He hurried on, "That's all bullshit of course. The real matter is that tomorrow, Sheldon and Kyoko are going to intercept the Orihalcon deal, as they blend in more people. Shiki and Maro will accompany me to face any obstacles in obtaining the mines. Ekidonna will use "void" **(1)** to transport the mine."

Creed stepped away from the warmth of Train's body, and turned around to face him. His eyes were now never brown, but not quite gold either. The orbs flickered between the two, creating what seemed like a bronze hell fire within. He was wearing a black silk shirt (courtesy of Creed's wardrobe), opened in the front to reveal the bandages that held his ribs in place as the nano machines mended his bones, and tight leather pants (Train found it quite annoying that all Creed's pants were leather, but he was grateful he did not have to borrow from Maro).

The lithe, well muscled figure before him struck Creed speechless for a moment. Flustered (and Creed Diskence did NOT do flustering), he continued on, "Ah…Train, wouldn't you rather have some fun joining us than staying at home?"

Train stiffened at the word "home". Then suddenly, he was not there anymore. Creed could not sense him through the suffocating aura of the hall. The glass shards glittered eerily, casting uncertain shadows a around.

A voice echoed sinisterly across the corridor.

"I will see you tomorrow, Creed-sama."

* * *

Sunset found Train on the rooftop, waiting for the stars to shyly appear. He stared across the vast expanses of the grounds. The lawn alone was enough to build a whole neighborhood on. Bushes, flowers and trees made a vast geometric pattern while fountains sprayed streams of glittering water under the golden sun.

As the shadows lengthened, Train's mind wandered back to what Creed had said.

_Home…_

Was this expansive land and rich, elaborate manor really his home? No, certainly not. He had always preferred a quiet dark corner. No, that did not sound right. Somehow, his heart seemed to suddenly yearn for a warm cozy place full of "friends" to call home. But that was entirely ridiculous. Where had that notion come from anyways?

There was no definition for home, for the Black Cat was a wanderer, and he only stayed to rest, not to live. This place was just a stop in his ever moving life. Still, it bothered him incessantly, since Creed had said it was his home. It sounded so right when Creed said that, that Train could not rise up in argument. Why did Creed make this place "home"?

Train sat staring at the skies, torn between wanting and not wanting, a past memory and a false perception.

* * *

Doctor wandered out into the cold night air; his thin lab coat was a flimsy protection against the weather. He stood on the lawn for a moment, letting the damp grass soak through the bottom of his trousers, as he stared at the silhouette of the Black Cat on the roof of the mansion.

"Train-san." It was barely above a whisper, but Train's head swiveled and his glowing eyes landed contact with Doctor's. "Creed has ordered your return to the manor to prepare for the mines, as it is almost sunrise."

Train complied, gracefully rising, before jumping 6 stories down to land in front of Doctor. As Doctor turned and walked back to the open doors of the mansion, Train made to follow, but stopped as he smelled blood. It was normal for Creed's land to be soaked in the smell of blood and terror, but the aura left around here was so anguished that it even gave Train pause. In his perfect night vision, he could see glittering splatters of blood shining all across the walkway up to the mansion.

Shrugging inwardly, though sympathetically to the poor soul who no doubt died of torture there, Train followed Doctor back – and here, Creed's echoing voice would not leave him alone until his mind collapsed in resignation – … home.

* * *

**(1)** Made it up, though Ekidonna could really have this power; it seems like she should. What power you ask? You'll see.

So why is Doctor lying? No, really! I have no idea and it just came out that way…;;;

He seems to take on a personality of his own. Any suggestions would be helpful.


	13. A Mix of Black and White

Guess what! I'm so obsessed with Black Cat that I've even requested a section for it on just now. I wonder if and when it's gonna happenthough.

Well, I apologize for the not-making-sense last chapter. It was a result of getting a sugar high and then having it crash right in the middle of some plot outlining...

Yeah, I know; no excuses either way. Perhaps I can appease you with the next chapter?

**A Mix of Black and White**

It was an ungodly hour in the morning, and the stars were just starting to wink out of existence. Creed was by his bedroom balcony window, looking out over his rose garden. He had collected and bred every rose in existence, and then some, before the incompetent humans could stamp them all out in their barbaric ways. It was really amazing how the specie just multiplied faster than cockroaches and proceeded to tear down an entire planet of resources, while looking out greedily into the unpolluted gem of outer space for more. Disgusting.

A light knock on the door was heard, and Creed gave a quiet "come in" to the guest.

Doctor stepped inside, looking amused. He had stayed up all night researching, and therefore had avoided any unsightly morning hair. Creed, on the other hand, despite having slept on those pristine and neatly made silk sheets, did not even have a hair out of place. He shook his head mentally. Amazing.

Creed turned toward Doctor. "We are leaving at 1400. Your ability is more medical healing than anything. Please stand ready to tend the wounded after our battles."

Doctor inclined his head in acceptance. It was left unsaid that Doctor was more than capable in battle. His physical abilities were top notch, and he was never injured due to his quick healing abilities. He let this go, however, since it was all according to his plan.

The seeds of distrust were sown already.

* * *

A brief, pleasant afternoon breeze kissed Train on the cheeks before brushing by gaily, slightly ruffling the heavy coat about his shoulders. Despite the wind, Train stared unblinkingly down from the rooftop of a rundown lodging at the bleak scene before him. 

Everything was grey. The buildings were made of grey cement, covered with grey plaster, covered over again with grey soot. The train tracks glinted a dull grey, splitting the grey earth down the center. The people who trudged out from the great grey caverns were pale grey. Even the polluted air was a very tangent grey.

Suddenly, all the grey flared up in a hellish orange, and Train finally closed his eyes from the sun that was emerging from behind an endless mass of grey clouds. _Damn Creed. An operation like this would have a higher success rate under the cover of darkness, but didhe care? HE was more concerned with the drama and how his hair would look under the glow of the sunlight. _Sighing, Train felt the presence of the sun disappear, taking the brief warmth on his eyelids with it. He finally opened his eyes, and came face to face with Creed decapitated head floating an inch in front of him, grinning manically.

Surprised at the sight, but unsurprised at the presence, as he had sense Creed before, he held his reaction and decided to just stare resolutely ahead, as if staring through Creed.

Creed smiled, not in the least annoyed at being ignored. He took this chance to observe Train. Here was the perfect assassin partner. He was unblemished by compassion, uncomprehending of friendship, unaware of freedom. To lead the messengers of the stars, and to find the twin star of his soul: it was a dream that had dangled precariously before coming into the secure grip of Creed's ambition. Now…

Creed was suddenly assaulted with a golden death glare from Train. _Oops…observed a bit too long._ Creed's face melted into one of anticipation.

"Train, the assault will begin in exactly 92 seconds from now. Number V and XI are guarding the forest strip around the mine. Leave those two to Shiki and Maro. Ekidonna needs to be or have been within 30 meters of a place to make a portal, so we will take her up to 30 meters away from the center of the mines and have her "void" the land. 74 seconds to go."

And with that, Creed's floating head disappeared through the portal. Train stared at the slightly shimmering air in front of him, it's image wavering as if experiencing a heat wave, and shrugged. He put one booted foot against the edge of the building and pushed off, leaping out into thin air.

The "heat wave" disappeared, taking Train along with it.

* * *

Nazier Blackheimer was wandering aimlessly around with his partner, Belga, in the woods just outside of the mines. This was one of the most boring jobs he had ever taken for Chronos. He scoffed. _Guarding against risk exposure to high top secret locations indeed. _There was no action.

"There's no action--" He heard Belga echo his words, just as two blurs dropped out of the blue right in front of him.

"Hello, gentlemen," said the bandaged short freak.

"We're gonna be amusing you today," said the fatass.

* * *

Train watched his former Chronos allies with amusement for a moment, before following Creed and Ekidonna through the shadows toward the mines.

* * *

Janus lounged against the hard rock entrance to the mines, playing an intricate game of cat's cradle with his wires. His swift hands paused a moment, before gracefully untangling the web with a practiced tug. 

"You can come out now," he said without looking up from his hands. "I have my wires strung everywhere in a big spider web, specially made to break under the presence of killing ki, concealed or not. Nothing and nobody enters within 45 meters of the cave entrance without being detected."

A silent woosh was all that could be heard before three figures suddenly appeared right in front of him.

"Mmm, with a trap like that, even I can't portal through it with only a 30 meter limit," commented the blond girl.

"No worries, Ekidonna. We'll just water the ground with his blood," reassured the horribly familiar blond man.

The third person didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Janus broke out a smile. "So, Train Heartnet, we meet again. Your bad luck and my good must be drawn together by fate."

Surprisingly, Train did not answer comically as he expected. Instead, the blond man spoke, this time in a deathly tone. "Do not speak so familiar with him! You know nothing about him! Just die you filthy slave of Chronos!"

Janus's eyes widened. Spoken in that arrogant tone, he finally realized with a mental slap to his forhead, who the man was.

"Let me erase you from the world, Creed Diskence." **(1)**

* * *

**(1) **For those of you who don't know, I think Janus's job in Chronos is to be an eraser. This means he cleans up the messes that pop up under Chronos's rule. 

Hmmm…I'm still discovering stuff about this site. For example, I found out I was blocking anonymous reviews about a week or two ago and put a stop to that. And the stat page is a nifty little thing. The hit counter is going up like crazy! Mmmm I feel loved.


	14. Two Opposing Faces of Lady Luck

With Janus, his sorta girlfriend, Rinslet, comes to mind. I don't know how she ties into the whole work of stuff. I want to have all, or at least most, of the characters in this story to make it more intricate. Hell, I even mentioned Preta in this (some people are probably still going "who?"), so Rinslet is fair game.

**The Two Opposing Faces of Lady Luck**

"Ne, Sheldon?"

"Yes, Miss Kyoko?"

"Do my lips look kissable?" Kyoko asked, pouting her glossy lips.

"We are about to disrupt a peace conference between two powerful countries that probably have a lot of body guards. Please do concentrate," came the distracted answer.

"But breaking up the conference is like a party, ne?" asked Kyoko excitedly. She licked her lips. "Anyways, I wouldn't want my lips to get dry with all the 'activities' I'll be doing today."

* * *

"Creed you demon!" shouted Janus, and he swung one hand at Creed wildly, his wires acting as 10 meter claw extensions. With this wild attack, he was aiming for Creed to underestimate his ability as well as dodge predictable to the left, where he was ready with a wire trap that snapped tight as soon as the victim sets foot in it, and therefore loosing that said foot. So he was surprised when Creed stood stalk still, grinning. 

A sudden tug in his gloves stopped Janus mid-swing. Train had stepped in front of Creed unflinchingly caught all 5 wires with one hand. While one side of Janus admired the pure guts and skill it took to pinch the wires between each finger just at the right angle so that the wires did not escape or cut apart the said finger, the rest of him was furious.

"That's _CREED_ you're protecting. Are you out of your mind?"

Creed couldn't help but chuckle at how close that statement was. Train just coldly stated, "Protecting Creed-sama is every Hoshi member's responsibility."

Janus's eyes bugged out. _What! I heard no news from Sephiria about this! Train—no he couldn't have switched sides! But this killing aura…it's definitely his._

"So, you're under some puppet Tao technique? Don't worry, Train. I'll help you out, and then laugh at you when Rinslet finds out about this," he stated jokingly, though inwardly, he was worried.

Something was off here.

* * *

Train scowled at the annoying man. He seemed familiar, but then again, he _was_ a Time Guardian. He had never met number VII before, but perhaps they had passed in a hallway somewhere. Still, he was acting way too familiar to Train's liking. 

_Perhaps a lesson in manners…_

"You know, you're really pissing me off," said the Black Cat, his eyes starting to flicker with an inner fire, "and you REALLY don't want to piss me off…" He finally let loose his control over the building pressure of his bloodlust. It burst like a balloon and sped out to cover the entire clearing in a thunderous cloud of murderous aura.

"…unless, you want to DIE!"

With that, he disappeared from sight.

Janus spread out his senses in search of former number XIII, but all he could feel was the pulsating aura all around the clearing. He was beginning to sweat under the intense pressure (and that was saying something, considering his line of work), but he could see the blond man was just basking in it, smiling. The woman looked worse for wear, but looked quite used to it. They were freakin' enjoying the show!

He decided staying on the ground was a disadvantage, so he decided to leap on top of the cave opening. He sent out one wire from his glove to loop around a tree growing over the cave cliff top, and reeled himself up. Before he even began to ascend, the line went slack right at his fingertip. It was the only warning he got before he felt a swift kick in his gut, sending him crash-landing in a trench of dirt.

He staggered up, wiping some blood off his lips. So this was the lengendary assassin, Black Cat. Quiet and stealthy, attacking from darkness as an invisible enemy, striking, killing, and then disappearing. And he still hadn't used his gun yet.

_He's **playing**!_

Janus smiled maliciously. He'd catch the Black Cat in his web. But first…

He closed his eyes (what use were eyes when the enemy was practically invisible anyways?), and instead focused on the wires he'd strung all over the clearing earlier for detecting intruders. The third string above his head trembled slightly.

_From above!_ He dodged to the right, just in time to miss drop kick, but could not rest as he sensed the wires behind him all tremble one by one, coming closer and closer toward him like a sonic wave. He leapt up, but felt the presence pursue. Well, this was his territory now, and he was the hunter.

He cut loose all the wires beneath his feet, and just like the one tug that loosened the whole cat's cradle, the cut snapped all the wires together.

Train Hearnet was bound completely in wire like a fly caught in a spider's web.

"Aren't you going to help you puppet, Creed?" Janus spat at him. Creed only smiled. "You see Heartnet? Whatever brainwashing they did with you, get it through your head and break their hold! He is just a heartless bastard and he's leaving high and dry. He's killed millions!"

"And I'm sure you've never hurt a being in your entire life!" came the spiteful reply.

The murderous aura in the clearing suddenly seemed to rush toward Train, as if being sucked in by a giant vacuum. It took the 'feeling' of everything with it: the 'green' sense of trees, the 'clear' sense of sky, the 'birth' sense of earth. It left in its wake only dullness. Train, on the other hand, started to glow brightly, reminiscent of the time in the lab. Electricity crackled ominously about him, and his eyes glowed bright white. Without lifting a finger, Train sent a bolt of electricity at Janus, scorching a deep smoking line across his cheek as he barely had time to dodge it. He didn't aim to kill anyways. He wanted the fight to draw on longer. He wanted to make this man suffer for criticizing Creed (only _he_ should be allowed to do that).

He wanted to see his blood soak the ground and baptize the world in a glorious red.

* * *

Janus was injured less than a minute into the fight with Train. If, by some holy miracle, he actually got past the legendary Black Cat, the infamous Creed Diskence would be waiting. Not to mention the girl, an unknown, and dangerous in that fact itself. 

He was in a tight spot, and all his luck could not get him out alive this time.

A voice echoed from behind him in the caves, bouncing off every surface, creating an eerie reverberation.

"Maybe you need help, number VII?"

Another voice joined it.

"Perhaps, we can join the fun?"

* * *

Creed was pulled out of his relaxed state of watching Train fight when he was reluctantly made to dodge what could only be described as a versatile wreaking ball came hurtling his way. Looking to where he had been a moment before, he observed the 3 foot deep trench leading to the foot of a splintered tree trunk. _After Train, the Chronos just seem to look out for brute force._

"So, you must be Creed Diskence. What a lucky day it is for me!" said the dark haired man with the number VIII tattooed to the right side of his neck. He threw the orihalcon ball playfully in his right hand, before suddenly throwing it at Train. It sped up with the help of its rockets, and went hurtling at Train, who had landed just 2 meters away from his fight with Janus.

Train was sent flying backwards into the rock wall behind him, the force pushing his body half a foot into it, creating huge cracks sprawling away from Train's imbedded body.

"What the HELL are you doing Baldor! That's Train Heartnet!" shouted Janus frantically.

"I don't care what kinda trash he is. He's helping Creed, and I'll kill anyone having to do with him!" announced Baldor with a vicious smirk on his face.

"Krad!" pleaded Janus desperately, "control your partner before he kills Train! Surely you can tell he's just being controlled?"

Number IV just stood there, his helmet glinting dangerously.

"You must be newly initiated or something. Krad and Baldor were born to kill, they won't stop at something as trivial as you," interrupted Train's annoyed voice. The rock wall suddenly split in half, the crack splintering as it got wider. Train Heartnet emerged from the crack, dusting off his sleeves, not a scratch or bruise anywhere.

"These clothes are Creed's actually. I'd appreciate if you'd avoid getting them dirty."

* * *

Why oh why did Janus suddenly turn out with spider-like abilities? ARGH!

Umm….I'm not sure whether or not to kill off Janus. Train and he would get along splendidly if not for the brainwashy thing. But then, if he doesn't die, it wouldn't be all dramatic and symbolic and all that. Plus I'd have to think up a way of him being incapacitated, but not dead, and somehow this cold blooded Train does not notice. Where am I gonna dig sumthin plausible up? Leave suggestions in review please.


	15. Disappearing Act

Eheheheh….i got sidetracked during this chapter due to the massive amounts of ideas I've been getting. I actually stopped 2 sentences in, and worked on something else. LOL! So this chapter might be totally random. The good news is that I ditched this chapter to work on chapter 17 or 18 (depending on how much plot development I plan for the next chapter) and so I have it done!

**Disappearing Act**

Silence reigned in the clearing, as everyone measured each other up. Creed finally sighed, "We'd love to just stand here and gawk at each other, but there is a mission to complete. Train?"

Train looked up. Baldor sneered, "So he's got you trained to answer to his every beck and call, does he?" Train retorted coldly, "Perhaps you should go running back to your Chronos masters, Baldori."

As Baldor obligingly worked himself up into a non-existing shade of red, Creed commented casually, "You should take Ekidonna to the center. I want to have some fun. They _did_ dirty _my_ clothes after all." Creed smiled mischievously; he obviously cared nothing for the clothes, but as for even _trying_ to hurt Train…

Train wanted to protest. He still hadn't killed off this Janus person after all. As soon as Creed finished his sentence, however, a complete sense of agreement took over. The mission was more important.

He watched for a while as Creed unsheathed Kotetsu, his beloved sword. Baldor scoffed typically at the seemingly bladeless state, but Krad, in his blindness, could feel its existence. He seemed like the perfect opponent for Creed, Train observed. Suddenly, Janus blocked his view.

"I can't let you go, Train," he said, holding a cell phone in one hand. "I've called for Sephiria for back up. Luckily, she's in town observing the progress. She'll be here any minute."

Train got pissed off again when Janus swiped his wires across at him, cutting through anything in the surroundings under 3 meters tall._ What is with this guy?_ He drew out a spark of electricity from within using his Tao, and sent a wave of it at Janus. Number VII managed to dodge, but unexpectedly, it was not a simple bolt of lightning. The electricity arced through the air like a glowing version of Janus's own technique, and found the nearest path of least resistence: his wires. The current traveled up the metal and connected with Janus, sending a jolt that left him unconsciously crumpling to the ground.

Train wondered absently if it was worth his time decapitating the fool, when a flash in the corner of his eyes warned him of the flying chain that tried to wrap around him. As Train ducked, Baldor reeled in his chain and ball and sent it at Ekidonna.

Train paused a moment before remembering that leaving Ekidonna to fend for herself would mean mission failure – something Creed would not be happy about. Mentally strangling the woman for her idiocy, he dashed toward her. It was too late though; even with his fast speed, the ball was faster.

* * *

Baldor started in surprise as his ball, which had locked onto Ekidonna, suddenly swerved to the left and pulled taunt his chain, straining against his hold toward a shining and crackling mass. The ball finally won the tug-o-war, and went flying toward it. Suddenly, the ball stopped and hovered in mid-air. The shining mass then pulsed, and that was all he saw before the ball was repelled straight toward his head and knocked him flying over his partner's helmet head.

* * *

Train groaned inwardly, and he couldn't help wince at the total soreness every muscle in his entire body was feeling. Even his lungs strained to take in oxygen. He decided turning his body into an electromagnet would not be something he'd do often, or ever again for that matter. 

Staggering toward Ekidonna, he was met by her worried face and a barrage of apologies. "I'm so sorry, Train-san. I couldn't move myself out of the way. Thank you for saving my life. If only I reacted faster, I could have opened up a portal to dive through. There was not enough time though and I--"

Train cut her off by gripping her neck with one hand and raising her above the ground. "I did it for Creed, you incompetent fool. You are important to the mission." He paused, sensing something, then continued. "Go to the center of the mines and finish your job. I'll deal with the company."

With that, he threw her on the ground. Ekidonna coughed for a few seconds and then staggered forward, disappearing into her portal.

Train turned toward Creed, who was having fun slashing Krad into little pieces, using his speed and unpredictable extending sword against Krad's limited range knives. He was not paying attention to the fight, however. His eyes focused beyond that, into the dark shadows under the trees.

"Come out, Time Guardians."

* * *

_YAAWWWN...!_

"This is boring." Kyoko sat on the conference table stretching. A few dead representatives of the Kingdom of Hikarimono littered around her, some (those old wrinkly guys) scorched, and some (the cute and kissable ones) merely ashes.

"Perhaps you'd mind helping me, Miss Kyoko?" asked Sheldon casually as he strangled another bodyguard with his blood ability. He then collected the blood from the guard, draining him, and proceeded to stab the others with crystallized blood shards.

Kyoko yawned again. "Too boring. I wonder what Kuro-sama and Creed –sama are doing. I bet they're having fun."

Sheldon's exasperated voice rang out through the cries of a ring of dying security officers. "Do you have the mine plans?"

Kyoko perked up. "Yup, as well as some purple info disks that number II guy left for the conference before rushing out of here."

"Very well, let's return back to the mansion."

"Awww...!Let's go shopping first!"

* * *

"Sephiria Axe, Belze Rushful," acknowledged Train coldly. 

"Train, have you truly gone traitor, helping Creed Diskence?" asked number I sadly. Had she used him wrongly? No. Belze always told her she played her cards perfectly as a master of manipulation. Then what had happened to Train? There was no way his taste for freedom would allow him to be chained to Creed. "Do you wish to desecrate the name of Saya?"

Train's aura flared in anger, but his eyes seemed to dull out. He could not remember anything about Saya, only that she was important somehow and that…

"You Time Guardians murdered her! How dare you bring up her name! I'll KILL YOU!"

Bewildered, Sephiria raised her sword in protection from Train's bullets. Surprisingly, the bullet blew her back into Belze, despite her strong and unmoving stance. The speed and the power, as well as the electricity crackling around Hades **(1) **told her Train had somehow turned his gun into an electromagnetic one.

"I'll blow you away with my 'rail gun'," Train stated dangerously.

"I can tell you are exhausted. You're movements are not fluid, but jerky. You hands are shaking. You eyes are unfocused. I bet you cannot fire again without collapsing," Belze observed calmly.

"Stop deciding things on your own!" Train denied, before raising his gun at both Time Guardians.

Belze ducked, Sephiria brought her sword up ready as a shield. There was no gunshot however.

In front of the Time Guardians, from the area right before Train was standing, to 600 meters out, a huge, perfect crater about 300 meters deep sat where the mines used to be. The motionless bodies of Janus, Krad and Baldor were the only recognizable part of the landscape.

Train Heartnet had disappeared with Creed Diskence into the darkness.

**

* * *

****(1)** Those of you who forgot, Hades is Train's gun. 

Well guys, I've decided that this story will hint strongly of Train/Creed, maybe with a slight mix of other characters, though I really doubt they'd jump into each other's beds right now. But then again, this _is _Creed I'm talking about…


	16. Leeching Control

This chapter will conclude the mine mission. So far, I have used a lot of Time Guardians in this story, but I managed to glaze over Xiao Lee (the disguise master). He will come up somewhere I'm sure…

I noticed there was not a lot of Creed POV. I am just caught up in the plot. Perhaps I'll remember to inject a few here and there.

**Leeching Control**

Belga observed the battlefield. Nazier was holding off Shiki and Maro quite well, despite the nonstop bleeding. 2 huge holes from Belga's missed bazooka shots created a battlefield to fight on. He loaded his rocket launcher again and aimed at the Shiki, who was just standing aside and letting the huge bug soldier do all the work. Suddenly, a heavy palm came out of nowhere and hit him in the chest and his shot went wide. Unexpectedly, it was so heavy that it threw him in a trunk, breaking that said trunk, and proceeded to throw him against the next three trees after that.

_SHIT! That fuckin' blob of fat just made me waste my last shot!_

He shifted his hold on Uruslaguna** (1)** and wielded it like a hammer. Using super fast speed, he stepped behind Maro and aimed for his head. A sudden shift in the air though, and his bazooka resisting his downward swing. Instead, it chose to lurch upward, taking him with it. Down below, Maro smiled.

"How do you like my gravity shield? You are helpless without a long range weapon here. Why don't you float up there for awhile and watch you companion die?"

Belga turned toward Nazier, who was already on his knees, spitting out blood. The immortal insect soldier just kept regenerating. Shiki walked toward Maro, turning his back on his Tao servant. Belga turned away too, not wanting to witness the horrid decapitation of Nazier under the insect's energy beam.

Suddenly, gravity return to normal, and dropped unceremoniously on the ground. Looking up, he saw the bandaged Taoist standing above a collapsed Maro, bees buzzing all around him like an aura.

Shiki stared down at Belga, and then shrugged. "I might as well control you, too. I hope you wake up earlier than this guy. I really don't want to carry this fat ass home."

Belga suddenly felt a sting at the base of his neck.

Darkness clouded his vision.

* * *

Back on mansion grounds, Shiki turned toward Belga, who was carrying the fat ass, and saw that Maro was finally waking up.

He sighed, "Put him down. Creed-sama will be back soon, so go back to Chronos. And even though my bee's venom can last up to a month now with the help of Doctor, I want you to wait outside the mansion grounds for me every week to report on Chronos activities." Shiki felt a massive amount of Tao gathering next to the cliff side by the mansion. "Now go!"

Belga ran, jumped into a tree, and disappeared from sight.

A moment later, the cliff was suddenly extended 600 meters out. The new soil's color was grayer than that of Creed's land, and rockier. Ekidonna stood in the middle of the new land, on top of a rocky cave. Shiki watched, unsympathetic, as she collapsed and rolled down the cave side. Creed never gave a backward glance, preferring to help a limping Train walk back to the mansion.

At the same time, the winds whipped up, and Doctor's helicopter came into view. It landed between Shiki and Creed, blowing dust every which way before the rotors stopped moving. Kyoko, Sheldon and Doctor stepped off it.

"GAH! Kuro-sama! You got hurt!" Kyoko rushed to Train's side opposite of Creed's, and offered her shoulder for Train to lean on. Creed would have fumed in jealously had it not been his preoccupation of needing to get Train to the doctor as fast as possible.

Doctor, seeing the impatient look on Creed's face, rushed toward them. He looked Train up and down, and sent out his ki to sense any injuries. There was not a scratch on him and not a bone was cracked. He pulled out his analysis visor and nearly fell over in shock.

Train's energy levels were hitting the negatives. The negative hundreds! By all accounts, that should be impossible. Even a dead man had some energy activities within him produced by dying cells. He wondered briefly if his visor had broken or something, before observing the rest of the Hoshi members and finding their energy levels normal, if not a bit depleted.

"Creed-sama, Train-san needs medical attention, _now_."

* * *

"I feel _fine!_ My limbs are a bit heavy, but that's what exhaustion does. I am NOT going into that undignified excuse for a bath tub." Train turned determinedly away from the offending stasis chamber, and tried to walk out the lab. He made it 2 steps before collapsing on the ground.

Creed looked at Doctor exasperatedly. Doctor stared at Train pleadingly. Train glared at Creed defiantly. All in all, not much progress went on as stares shot across the room.

Finally, Creed relented. He nodded toward Doctor, who stepped forward with a needle and injected Train, who could not move an inch to avoid it.

"This injection will bring you energy levels back a little, but it's only temporary. It will not bring it up to anywhere near normal, and after it wears off, your levels will take a plunge lower than that of now. Within an hour, you're going have to comeback, before you drop dead from exhaustion—literally."

Train made to protest, but Creed interrupted, "No argument."

He was nodding in obedience before he realized what he was doing.

* * *

**(1) **It seems all the Time Guardian weapons have names, and his bazooka is named this.

Yes! I _finally_ got back to one of my ideas that started way back in chapter 2…namely: what is Shiki up to? So far, Flash, Belga, Ekidonna and Maro are under the control of this sneaky Taoist. He would love to get his hands on Train or Doctor, but he can't do that without Creed noticing that something is wrong. So…who is the next victim?


	17. Upon Coming Home

Sorry…halfway through this fic, I was interrupted with dinner, which involved eating in silence while mom belittled and screeched and ranted about how I forgot to dry the cover to a pot while doing the dishes yesterday. Needless to say, I'm a moody teenager with emotions that spin out of control. While I _did _keep a respectable silence throughout the whole ordeal, my mind totally flew into rage and I forgot all the ideas of the story plot. Ooops? Heheh. Well, then she came into the room and hovered distractingly as I typed…now you can imagine how ugly that was.

I must be evil, becuz sometimes (not this time obviously), I can just sit back and relax in my mind, watching I amusement as I outwardly keep silence in the face of the glowing fury in my mother's ranting. She can go on and on to herself in a loud voice even if I walk up and leave the room. LOL! So, parts of this fic actually reflect on that; you can probably tell where my bad mood started.

**Upon Coming Home**

"…wonderful job today. Please meet back here tomorrow for the next--"

Creed was interrupted by a bumbling servant, who barged unseeingly into the room and announced that Doctor had requested Creed's presence again.

Train's lips almost twitched in a malicious smile. _Must be new around here…_

The servant was promptly pounced on by a furious Creed, who turned a deadly stare in his direction.

"Perhaps one as idiotic as yourself have not heard," Creed began in a soft, silky voice. "But _I_ happen to own this mansion, and everything inside. I don't know what happened so that I would own a worthless piece of crap like you, but since you are MINE, you _will _give me the due respect. Doctor does not _request_ my presence. He is MY follower, and he either asks for it or begs. _I_ decide whether or not to grace him with it. You, on the other hand, are not even fit to ask. You wait by the door like a good dog, and if I feel like it, I listen to you."

Then, with a rising voice, Creed continued. "If I feel like it, I'll beat the crap out of you. If _I_ feel like it, I watch you squirm in a tub of poison scorpions. If I feel like it, I skewer you and leave your rotting flesh to the dogs. You know why?"

The man, by then, was a trembling mass at the feet of Creed, and could only stare paralyzed at the petrifying glare of his master and stutter out, "B-be-b…'cause you own me, sir."

Creed smiled sweetly. Train could tell he was in a good mood from the recent mission success, or he would have killed or tortured the poor man long ago. Instead, he favored glaring at the servant and then slowly using his imagine blade to peel off thin and precise layers of the man's skin. Train observed with the other Hoshi members as the servant's skin seemed to peel of and curl in little strips, seemingly on its own.

He stood still a moment longer to witness the bloody torture, before walking calmly away from the stonily still Hoshi members toward Creed, who was bathing in the screams. A slight tap on the shoulder, and a nod toward the general direction of Doctor's lab, was all he needed to do to snap Creed out of bloodlust. Well, out of it mostly anyways. Creed gave a final, finishing slash at the servant, watching as the blood arched in a mesmerizing stream above the collapsing man. A few small drops managed to splatter on Train's cheeks, and he glared at Creed in annoyance. Creed smiled unashamedly, and cleaned his blade with a flick of his wrist. More blood splattered on Train. Now he was thoroughly pissed as he watched Creed nonchalantly sheath his sword.

Perhaps it was because he deeply embroiled in that fury that he did not notice at first. But suddenly, without a step, Creed was pressed insistently against his chest, his breath hot on his face as he began to _lick_ the blood off his pale skin.

Before Train could gather himself to react, Creed stepped away, licking his lips in satisfaction. With an elegant gesture toward the open doors, he swept out of the entrance hall, saying with a toss behind his shoulders, "I'm going to meet Doctor. You should report back soon too before your shot wears off. See you later, my pet."

The resolute slamming of the doors kept Train's exploding temper within the hall. Servants outside the hall sighed in relief, and quickly bolted the heavy orihalcon doors as soon as Creed stepped out of the way.

Inside the hall, the Hoshi members stared at each other in trepidation at the glowing-eyed form of death stalked toward them with undisguised anger. The killing aura spread across the great room, growing thicker as it reached every corner. Ekidonna quickly made a portal and ran through it, leaving the other members to dive through. Maro, having trouble fitting through the portal, had to have Ekidonna enlarge it, therefore barely avoiding the 3 bolts of lightning hurled at him.

The Hoshi members all decided to avoid the entrance hall for another day or so.

* * *

Creed walked up the grand staircases, seemingly very interested at staring at the velvet red carpet running beneath him. In reality, he was trying not to giggle unprofessionally while mentally counting down.

_3…2…1…_

The doors to the entrance hall behind him shook under the combined forces of Train's lightning bolts and his exploding bullets. A few wide, but slight dents did appear (Creed winced at the large amount of money that the door had cost, before remembering that he _did_ own an orihalcon mine now), though the door refused to budge.

Creed chuckled. _You'll have to do better than that, Train._

As he reached a platform, he turned neither left nor right as the stairs split, but instead stopped infront of a gigantic painting of a nobleman 3 times his height. Placing a hand over the left boot of the portrait, he pressed down, and spiderline cracks formed around his hand in the form of a small box. It popped open after Creed released his hold, and a metal numbering pad came into view. A lazer suddenly blasted Creed harmlessly in one eye.

"Retinal Scan initiated," a machine like voice sounded. "Retinal Scan completed. Diskence, Creed. Voice Activation initiated."

Creed sighed in a bored voice, "Doctor, you have got to stop being so paranoid about security."

"Voice Activation accepted. Initiate entry code."

Creed rolled his eyes impatiently, tempted to just punch the fucking machine, Doctor, security and millions of dollars be damned. He quickly punched in the access code.

"Fingerprint scan accepted. Entry code accepted. Please enter."

Creed rushed in as soon as the painting slid open, muttering about the waste of time.

* * *

"Ah, Creed-sama," Doctor's amused voice invited; "I heard you had a little fun with the latest servant."

Creed stared coldly at Doctor, who was hovering over the security monitors. A distinct blotch of darkness decorated the center of the entrance hall on the screen he was observing. Half the hardwood across the room was decimated into a smoking ash pile. Train couldn't break through the orihalcon doors with his energy levels depleted so, so he had decided to blast off the exit doors instead.

"I know Ekidonna told me what a bother it was to find more servants to clean up the bloody messes of those who displease me, so I decided to spare the guy by just giving his unworthy self a lecture. I couldn't stand his stupid face though, so I decided to play." Creed smiled innocently.

Doctor chuckled. "Well, Creed-sama, perhaps I have caused displeasure to you, too."

Creed raised an elegant eyebrow, as if to say "I know, but I'll listen."

Doctor continued without a hint of nervousness that anyone else should have been feeling under the dissecting gaze of Creed Diskence. "I, as you must have noticed, lied about Train-san's desire to suicide." Doctor paused, assessing Creed's stony mask, and then continued anyways. "During my encounter with Train, I healed his wound, which was not a horizontal gash aimed at cutting a vein, but more like he accidentally cut himself. At that time, I felt a faint aura register on my senses, though only because the well concealed aura seemed to have some malicious feelings toward my encounter with Train-san. Later, when you asked me about the encounter, the nano machine shield I had set around the library for privacy picked up an alien technological vibration within. It was a bug. I feared we had a powerful spy on our hands, so I decided to give false information. If they thought Train-san would easily give up his life, surely they would feel overconfident about their ability to slay or capture him. Of course, I also lied to you, and I apologize for that."

Creed said nothing, processing the information. It was a likely excuse, but there were no witnesses, so it was on Doctor's word alone.

Doctor, sensing Creed's doubt, continued faster, "While you were away, I had this spy caught trying to stowaway on the medical helicopter I had prepared. Perhaps you would like to see…?"

Creed nodded, and Doctor led him around some counters and stasis chambers. They came upon an operating table, the same one they were going to use for Train before they discovered his killing aura might shatter all the lab equipment, where a man laid, his mismatching eyes glinting with an unnerving glassiness.

Creed did not know whether to laugh, cry, or slay the man on sight. He opted for the first, and chuckled lowly.

"Hello, Sven."

* * *

Another cliffy. I just love those, don't you?

About the Train-Creed scene…you people out there ranting for slash: that was my little gift to you. I have little gifts like that throughout the story. Those who hate this kind of relationship for whatever reason can interpret it as Creed's love for blood. It's totally within manga character limits.

Anywayz, we FINALLY get to Sven. Bet you have lotsa questions, like "Wait…isn't he blind" or stuff like that. You'll get your answer soon enough. Just not in this chapter—HAH!


	18. Blood Opium

Know what? Train is collapsing way too often in this fic. He's horridly strongand independent, but somehow, he just seems to get the brunt of the injuries. And after what's planned in this chapter, there's at least two other near-death experience he has to go through. Get used to the stasis chamber Train, cuz you're going back there a lot.

**Blood Opium**

"…to all analysis, yes; he's blind and deaf!"

"Are you suggesting he, without sight or sound, was able to sneak onto MY grounds by touch sense alone?"

"Well, I don't –"

Doctor and Creed's debate was interrupted as one hell of a pissed of Black Cat barged into the lab.

"Creed! You gave me one hour of extra time only to make me spend half of it listening to you _lecturing_ to the Hoshi and the other half being _locked_ inside the entrance hall! I might as well--"

Train paused, unprepared by the sight before him. Sven was dangling from a long chain coming down from the ceiling, slightly swinging ominously to an invisible wind. Machines were blinking and bleeping all around him, monitoring every part of his body. His eyes were closed, his breaths were labored, and his exposed torso was littered with bruises (courtesy of Creed when Sven ignored his questions).

Creed's heart skipped a beat, and an awful feeling began to manifest itself in his chest. Train remembered Saya, so surely he would remember Sven? Especially with the blasted guy right in front of him. NO! He could not loose Train to Saya's bewitching right now. There was no way…after all the progress…

His thoughts trailed as his whole mind concentrated on Train's reaction, body strung tensely. A few emotions flickered past Train's face, too fast to read, before his face smoothed out to the cold stony mask of before.

The only things heard in the lab were the loud bleeps of the machines and the eerie creaking of Sven's chains.

After awhile, when Creed's fisted hands were bleeding from his nails embedded in his palms, Train's patience ran out.

"If you're just going to stand there, I'll just go back outside the lab and die from the energy depletion you were so desperate for me to avoid," Train announced sarcastically.

Doctor blinked. Creed blinked. _He doesn't remember?_ They both let out a sigh of relief.

Train watched the two in exasperation, before turning about and walking toward the exit.

Sven's eyes suddenly snapped open. The left one was an unseeing cloudy white, which offset the right's piercing brightnessuncomfortably.

"NO! TRAIN!"

Creed tensed again as Sven spoke. His stomach sank as Train turned around at that voice.

_He remembers…?_

Creed needn't have worried however, because before Train could fully face Sven, he collapsed boneless before Creed's feet.

* * *

The lab echoed with the sound of chains rattling as Sven struggled helplessly against his bounds. "BASTARDS! Don't just fuckin' stand there! He's dying! Oh god, he's dead!" Sven sobbed uncontrollably. 

Creed spend a moment looking back at Train's still form in trepidation, which was slightly shifting up and down with each breath. _Dying?_ It took another moment before Creed realized what was happening, and how exactly Sven had navigated around his mansion undetected.

_The foreseeing eye!_

While the back of his mind wondered at how Sven had used it to replace his lost sight, Creed's body was on automatic as it rushed toward Train with superhuman speed, snapped Doctor out of his trance, and got Train inside the stasis chamber. If Sven had foreseen Train's death, then there was not a moment to loose.

Doctor was frantically checking the statistics. "His heart is weak and the beat's not constant. He's suffering spasms--"

_No! The Black Cat I respect is not a man so weak as to disappear like this! _**(1)**

Doctor's analysis and Creed's thoughts were interrupted by a hysterically relieved shout from Sven.

"Thank god he's all right!" A moment's pause later; "I'll fuckin' kill you Creed for doing this to him and taking my sigh--"

Even as Creed tuned Sven out, Train was slowly stabilizing before his eyes.

_Definitely not._

* * *

Creed Diskence was feeling an overwhelming sense of relief that was flooding his mind and destroying his mental barriers. Train was slowly healing, and expected to wake any moment. Sven was still chained in the lab (he had to get Maro to move him down into the dungeons some time later) and Doctor'sresearch on his foreseeing eye was progressing nicely. He allowed himself a rare moment of relaxation and dropped all suspicions and guards aside. As he happily anticipated his pet's revival, his eyes wandered to a metallic counter behind a set of glass walls. It was littered with research papers and bubbling test tubes.An empty Erlenmeyer flask tilted back and forth on top of a sample of rattlesnake poison.

"How is the project coming along, Doctor?"

Doctor smiled. It was so rare of Creed to ask about something, since he usually expected Doctor to report on the progress every day or so. It must be a sign of Creed's trust re-instilled, perhaps re-instilled stronger than before.

Doctor's musings came to an end as he turned in anticipation to the topic ahead.

"I've finished. After my encounter with Train, I collected the last few samples on my list. With the assembled toxins, I was able to create an unstable version of the mythical 'Blood Opium'." He held up a small test tube the size of his index finger. "A dose this size will give any human the uncontrollable urge to go on a killing rampage until either there's nothing in sight alive, or, more likely, the subject dies. Any dose smaller than this will induce addiction to the drug."

Creed laughed maniacally.

"Then let's spread to the world, this wonderful addiction to killing!"

* * *

**1) **Same words used in chapter 91 when Train was shot with a nano machine bullet that changed his DNA. Which, by the way, did not happen yet in this storyline, and, considering the plot, is not going to happen. 

Addiction to killing…sounds familiar? You bet Train's gonna get tangled in this drug somehow!


	19. The Echo of Saya

Due to the nature of Sven's condition, this chapter might be more than a little confusing. It's hard the write his replies to Train's question without writing the question in the first place and having the whole conversation understandable. Bear with me.

If you were wanting clarification, Sven's condition is like this: he's blind, so he cannot see, but he uses his foreseeing eye to see seconds in the future, and it gives him "sight." But since he's seeing the future, or possible future (such as Train's death when he hadn't died yet), he can prevent it. But upon changing it, the future is changed, so the eye gives him a vision of the changed future. That, however, is really confusing (like seeing one minute, Train's dead, and the next, he's alive and well), so his replies make no sense. I will put what his eye sees within "/_blah/"_ to make it easier to read.

**The Echo of Saya**

Train groggily woke up to soft white light dancing across his face, as if he was underwater. Instinct slowed his heart rate and thought waves to that of sleep. He slowly but efficiently felt out his surroundings. He really _was_ underwater. A soft, constant bleeping was going in sync with a soft but labored breath somewhere 8 meters in front of him to the right. So he _was_ being monitored also.

Finally deciding to risk a peek, he opened his eyes and then immediately closed them again. To the outside observer, it was merely a rare reflex of the body; a blink in sleep. As Train stared into the back of his eyelids, he allowed his thought process to speed up a little quicker than one would have in sleep, processing the full sight of what he had glimpsed during his blink.

And then his eyes immediately shot open as his memory rushed back to him.

He floundered inelegantly for a moment, loosing equilibrium in the slight viscosity of the liquid. As he felt the liquid slide coolly around his skin, regaining balance, he stared out across the clinically blinding white lab to where a body dangled from a chain tied to a pipe in far ceiling. It wasn't a corpse (amazing considering how none of Doctor's or Creed's victims in interrogation ever survived the first hour) and it was still conscious, considering the slight flickering of its eyeballs under its lids

Train was about to inquire who the man was, before the man suddenly spoke.

"You don't remember me, Train? I'm Sven, your sweeper partner?"

Train was confused. How the hell did this Sven know his name? Who the hell was this guy? Why was he important enough to keep alive and generally healthy in Doctor's lab instead of getting slain on sight? Why was he being familiar? What is a sweeper? Why would this Sven even _think_ that he'd partner up with a guy like him? And why the hell did he answer Train's question before Train could even voice it?

Observing the monotone lab of Doctor, he deduced that there was nothing interesting to do from his stasis chamber until Creed let him out, so he decided to ask his numerous questions.

"Why--?" _/…do you talk so familiarly with me/_

"Because I know you," the man's voice pounced before another syllable could be said, "don't you remember me? And Eve? What has Creed done to you?"

"Creed has—" _/…nothing to do with this! The question is who the hell are you/_

"I _told _you, Train! I'm Sven, you're partner! And I'm going to kill Creed after I wring your memories out from him. Don't you remember anything from the past? About us? About how we fought against the Hoshi?"

_/Train floated in the stasis chamber, bewilderedly looking at Sven before sinking into silence./_

"DAMN IT ALL!"

Train stared at the ranting man, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Perhaps Train's initial impression was wrong. Perhaps this Sven was actually a mad project of Doctor's. Mad incompassing Doctor, project and man.

"Don't tell me you joined Creed, Saya's _murderer, _and threw away all memories of her!" Sven's violent outburst was emphasized by a crescendo of chain rattling.

Train was more confused than he had been since his parents were murdered. Creed had told him…but why would this man lie? Every word was underlined with frightening certainty.. The crash of vehemence, despair, grief and who knows what else in Sven's convictionbroke Train's emotional barriers and allowed a flood of reactions to pour into him. The anger in his voice surprised even himself as he let all façade of calm confidence go.

"The Time Guar—" _/..dians killed her! You **KNOW** NOTHING/_

"And what do _you_ know?"

The calmness, as well as the overly readiness of the response stopped Train short. Then, like a bull who had just been stunned at seeing red, che harged on ahead in unjustified anger.

"Why do you always answer before I ask! Just SHUT UP!"

Silence. Was Sven really complying? The man's face seemed to be entirely focused on his strained breathing. There was no indication of defiance or annoyance or defeat.

Train, on the other hand, was having no such luck. The emotional wave that was pounding against his barriers was destroying all control he had. He was thrown helplessly into a tidal of hundreds of sensations he'd kept at bay so not as to interfere with his work. Train's face softened into one of longing and desperation, much like the face he wore when he observed the stars at Sven's side not long ago. His memory of her was so vague, but sometimes a bittersweet heartache would take over unexpectedly. Who was this person that haunted his dreams?

"You knew her?" Even that sounded pathetic, never mind the sudden urge to beg this supposed friend to tell him about Saya.

Sven had almost given up hope. This tentative question sounded more like the old Train than he dared to imagine. He wanted to demand answers from Train and wring it out of Creed's scrawny little neck. He wanted Eve's scientific analysis and Annette's **(1**) it's-common-sense-you-idiot logic.He wanted _answers_.

But he was desperate not to loose this piece of Train to the cold darkness that seemed to surrounded him.So he pushed aside his frustration and decided to settle for talking about Saya, hoping that speaking of the dead lady would jolt a few of Train's brain cells into activation.

"I never knew Saya, but you told me once that she was the one you failed to protect. The one that found you on the sidewalk one day bleeding from a wound when you purposely failed to kill your target on the order of Chronos. She took you in and…"

Sensing Train's discomfort at voicing any questions, Sven tried to cover as much as possible. As Sven told Train about this Saya, all of it sounded both familiar and surreal to the bewildered Black Cat. There was no way that he had met this kind and soft woman in the past. There was no way such a person could exist, not to mention approach a cold blooded killer such as him, in such a cruel world.

But her feelings of compassion and freedom echoed through Sven's word tormented his mind regardless.

* * *

**(1)** That retired Sweeper who watches over the information net, running a bar or resturaunt or somthing. I forget really.

I was just watching HunterxHunter the other day and it struck me as odd how much Creed Diskence and Kororo Lucifer are alike. I mean, the same slick hair and wild eyes, the same fluffy fur around the coat collar, leading the same type of group against the same type of organization that approve of the same type of methods. Creed is blond; Kororo is brunette. Creed's collar is fluffy white; Kororo's is black. Creed has Tao; Kororo has nen.

No worries though; I still like Creed better!


	20. The Lee Family Part 1

We take a break from Train's stay at Creed's mansion. I know you want to get back to him, but he always seems to get injured and end up in that blasted chamber when I write about him. To keep him safe from harm for now, we will actually work on some plot development. Bear with me here.

**The Lee Family – Part 1**

"Shiki-san. Would you mind handing these over to Creed-sama? They were part of the mine exchange during the conference we disrupted," Sheldon explained, holding out two purple disks.

"Yo! Sheeelldooon! Let's go shopping already!" Kyoko yelled across Ekidonna's room.

"YES! Get out of my room already!" screamed Ekidonna, embarrassed to have all the Hoshi gathered in her private chambers. The next time Heartnet goes on a killing spree, she was leaving them in with him.

"Maro! Get out of my lingerie drawer! Aitsu **(1)**! GAH!"

Aitsu was rooting through Ekidonna's closet before he suddenly turned around and released his spirit. It hit Ekidonna, and then returned to his monkey body. Only, it wasn't a primate body anymore. It was that of a naked Ekidonna, exactly alike to the last strand of hair.

"Mmmm…never knew you had such a sexy ass," commented the doppelganger, checking out his, or more accurately, Ekidonna's exposed butt.

"ARGH! OUT YOU FUCKIN' MONKEY! _OUT!"_

Sheldon, miraculously, seemed to be able to keep complete calm in the racket that followed. Even Shiki was wincing under his bandages, before he realized Sheldon still expected an answer, and it was too much of a good opportunity to waste.

"Of course I will not mind," Shiki said oily, taking the disks.

"Sheldon?" Kyoko asked, grabbing Sheldon with both hands before leaning inward, as if to kiss him. Sheldon immediately blocked her lips with a glob of blood.

"EWW! I wasn't really gonna kiss you. You're hot under the glasses and hat and all, but you're just not my type," pouted Kyoko, licking off the blood. She proceeded to drag Sheldon out the door, happily humming about shopping.

Shiki sent one of his wasps after them, smiling maliciously under his bandages.

* * *

Jiang Zheng Lee ran a hand through his thinning pepper and salt hair as he stood before two sweepers of Rotenburg City.

"You sure you haven't seen her?" They pushed the rough sketch of Eve closer into his face.

"A pretty young 'un like her? I'd not forget!" He subtly backed up into the doorway, prepared to close the door on their face if things got violent.

"Well inform us if you get any information, alright? She may not look like it, but she's an escaped convict and a dangerous killer. Took out 8 of our men."

_And I'll bet those eight just happened to be part of the Volts gang._

Lee did not voice his thought though. Instead, he nodded compliantly, even a bit eagerly, to show his obedience. As the two left, he overheard them gossiping to each other.

"Heard about Creed's last exploit?" the first one, a skinny blonde with a tattoo on his chest asked.

"Yeah. He's getting bolder, stealing a top secret orihalcon mine. There's only 2 left in Chronos's position now, though I here they're trying to force a privately owned one off the hands of a rich Chinese family," replied the second brunette.

"Rumors are that they disrupted a peace conference between the country holding ownership of the mine and Chronos's negotiators. Number II ran away before the slaying begun, and thus escaped injury," conversed the blonde.

"Really? Man, the Guardians are getting more cowardly each day. It's up to us Sweepers to maintain justice."

As the two rounded the corner, the blonde turned slightly toward the eavesdropping Lee, blocking his companion from sight. The tattoo X on his chest contrasted darkly with his skin as he winked subtly at Lee, before following his companion.

The gray haired man collapsed on the doorsteps in an awkward sprawl, processing what he had discovered. Creed was on the move, and had succeeded in another well thought out plan. The Guardians had once again been defeated. But what did Xiao **(2) **mean by number II running away? It was a blatant attempt at decreasing the Guardian's import to the sweepers, as this rumor would no doubt spread to all by sundown. There was a double meaning though. Why would someone as highly ranked as Belze even bother with a petty meeting? Obviously, Chrnonos had some information it wanted Belze to hand over during the meeting, as he was an expert in negotiation and information exchange. So what was in that was exchanged?

His thoughts were interrupted as a mature but young voice sounded out behind him. "Ojii-san. Sven's not back yet—he said he'd return in time for dinner today," commented Eve, worry evident on her face.

_Poor girl, already lost one friend and desperately clinging on to the other._

"I'm sure he's fine. I wouldn't worry about a grown—"

A phone rang insistently inside the building. Lee stood up tiredly, and walked in to answer the phone. Long ago, when the place was an actual store, the neighbor had pitched in all their money, and with the help of a sympathetic and rich uptowner, got a public phone installed there. Now it was just an ancient piece of metal hung up on a deteriorating wall. Only a few people ever called anymore, as no one had a phone around the region anyways.

"Yes? Hello?"

"Ojii-san? This is Lee 1."

A peculiar expression overcame the old man's face as he heard the voice at the other end of the line. It was a mixture of love and longing, combined with disgust and resignation.

"Look, ojii-san, I don't have time to discuss the merits of my current occupation with you. I need to reach Lee 2 as soon as possible."

"But Xiao just left," the old man protested.

"Shh! This line could be tapped, most likely considering where I am right now. I have another minute before any serious repercussion could happen though. Just get him to meet me at the old playground. Thank you and good-bye."

"Da Lee…" Jiang Zheng's voice was full of regret and wistfulness. _Don't go… _It was an echo of what he had said to his eldest son years ago when he had decided to cut all family ties.

The other end was silent, and Jiang thought his son had hung up, before the voice, softer than before and full of tenderness replied.

"It's 'Doctor' now."

* * *

**(1) **He is the weird monkey Hoshi with the power of Dou, meaning he can clone into anyone.

**(2) **Xiao Lee, Chronos Guardian Number X, master of disguises. And since the old man seems to have the same last name as him, they are, of course, related. You can probably guess that Xiao Lee is the younger bro of Da Lee aka. Doctor.

Oooh…evil Shiki got the disks, and is going after Kyoko and Sheldon. Wonder what will happen? Well, go ahead and wonder; but you won't find out unless you read the next chappie, silly!


	21. The Lee Family Part 2

There seems to be a whole lot of side stories to this plot. I really wonder what ever happened to the simple Train-turns-dark-and-goes-on-a-killing-spree story that I started out with. It's all gonna tie up together in the end…I swear! What? Don't you trust me?

**The Lee Family – Part 2**

"Belze, how are negotiations for the private mine?" Sephiria asked, rubbing her temples as she observed the huge stacks of paperwork. Being a Guardian had its perks—especially the nice sparring room and large amounts of insurance money—but paperwork was definitely not one of them.

"Painfully slow. They refuse to show enough trust in us to even give us their family name, fearing that we'd do a background check on them and discover unwanted information."

"They were involved in the Mafia, then?" Sephiria perked up. If they could charge the private owners of the 4th orihalcon mine with mass murder and such, she could make sure that all the riches in the world, except the mine, could not buy them out of prison.

"They _are_ a bit shady, but there's no such confirmation," Number II reported regretfully. "The next anonymous representative will be waiting at the 3rd train station of Rotenburg city."

Number I started. "The isolated city with the mad bomber? Are they crazy?"

"Maybe they want one of our people to 'accidently' be killed. Don't worry though. I'll be going myself, and I'm not taken out so easily."

Sephiria paused thoughtfully. "And getting rid of this killer on the side wouldn't be bad either. Be sure to wring the information out of this one though. I'm counting on you skills, Belze."

"Of course, Commander."

* * *

Jiang Zheng shook his head, walking toward the train station. 2 calls in one day! That had to be some kind of record. The second call was delivered from the Sweeper's café, where the old family that had exiled him updated him on some news and announced him as their mediator for a transaction.

_My family is dealing with an obscure organization like Chronos with old family inheritance, my son's a part of this organization, and the other one is running around with the Hoshi gang! What has the world come to?_

He was old, far too old to understand the minds of youngsters these days. Except for Eve, of course. But she was just strangely more mature than any child, not to mention any adult, of her age. Speaking of whom, had tagged along with him, not wanting to be left alone in the dank building when Kou had gone out to scavenge for food.

_Still a kid after all…_

* * *

Belze leaned against the only wall of the so called 'train station' that was not about to crumble any second from a passing breeze. So this was the famous city of Rotenburg, the center of commerce, trade, and transportation. Pathetic.

And where the hell was this mediator? He scanned the streets, noting every rusty lamppost, every unnatural shadow, and every piece of garbage.

Nothing.

Unnerved, he felt the urge to hide himself from what could be a hidden enemy, and slowly allowed himself to sink into the shadows of the crumbled wall. A dark silhouette suddenly appeared around the block corner. The enemy after all?

His sharp eyes picked out only a grandpa with white streaking through his sleek hair and his granddaughter taking a walk. Innocent and disgustingly cute…just the kind of thing to lower one's guard. Belze narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He could feel no killing intent from these two, but who the hell walks down these streets with a mad bomber running the city? The only people he had seen so far were flickers of shadows within barricaded and deteriorating buildings.

He tensed as the two drew closer, and suddenly disappeared. His speed brought him behind the two in a split second. He watched amusedly as the grandpa moved forward undisturbed, not noticing his presence. His amusement turned into curious interest when the daughter immediately spun around a whirlwind of blond hair and resumed a fighting stance.

_So the old man was just a distraction. She's the media---_

His thoughts trailed off as his brain registered exactly who the girl was.

Nano machine tool made by Torneo, Eve.

A part of him slapped himself for not recognizing her immediately, or at least realizing her elaborate lace outfit fitted oddly with the threadbare ojiisan.

Eve's surprised face contorted into embarrassment when she realized her hostile reaction to the mere presence of a stranger (Sven's and Train's paranoia was really getting to her) and sheepishly relaxed for a moment. That moment passed very quickly when she observed the shock and hostile aura coming from the stranger, and she immediately reached into her power, inwardly ready to activate the nano machines in the second it battle began. Fighting experience taught her to make no sudden moves and observe the enemy while he was still in shock. She took in his dark coat, his military uniform, his dangerous glaive with a number II carved onto…

Wait…backtrack…this man…the Roman numeral…

"You are a Time Guardian!"

Belze's aristocratic features settled down into one of formal pleasantry. "Yes. I believe we've been introduced Miss Eve; I am Belze, Chronos special organization, Time Guardian II."

As he drawled out the formalities, Belze's mind was flashing faster than Sephiria's sword dance. Why was Eve here of all places? How did she get into the city when it was supposed to be isolated? Where was her guardian, Sven Volfied? And Train…did she know about Train's defection? Was she on the same side as him, and therefore Creed? She would be a dangerous weapon for the Hoshi…

"Ah, you must be our contact," said Lee, finally noticing the tension behind him. His tone took on a cold, businesslike manner, as if he hadn't been chasing down a boy with a shotgun for stealing an apple a week ago. "The credit confirmation, please."

Belze erased all concern for Eve.The business came first, then he could worry about Sephiria's soft spot.As Belze drew out a small, handheld electronic device, proceeding to explain the 6 billion that had just transferred into an anonymous bank, Lee was overcome with a sense of self-disgust. Dealing money transfers with obscure organizations so the traitorous family could sell the mine that had been in their possession for generations was not what he imagined doing when he packed up and moved out of the Lee mansion 20 years ago. Old ties and honor still bound him to his duties as a Lee however.

_Family cannot be chosen indeed._

Confirming the transfer, Lee backed away to a formal distance. "We thank you for your generous offer. The transfer will be picked up at midnight global time. Should the money have disappeared, you will find that while we do not like the Hoshi, we will not hesitate in a treaty of neutrality with them with Chronos as a common enemy should you so choose to deceive us," he recited mechanically, word for word, engraved in his memories after numerous dealings like this when he was younger.

"The Lee family would like to now strengthen our tie of friendship. By mentioning our name alone, we show our trust in you. Please be ready with the next transfer at coordinate point 64G1- 92S4-09D8."

Lee made to leave, wanting to flee as soon as possible, but Belze stopped him.

"Wait! Those coordinates are in the middle of the ocean!"

Middle being all three dimensions. Surely they did not expect a transfer using submarines?

"Please be ready with the next transfer at coordinate point 64G1- 92S4-09D8," repeated the man insistently. Belze mentally swore. The man was like an answering machine, and he knew that it would be impossible to coax information out of this one without damaging the 'Lee family friendship'."

Damn it!

* * *

Eve, meanwhile, had sat herself on top of the crumbling wall, keeping a distance from trouble, watching the enemy, guarding ojiisan, and keeping her promise to him of staying out of the business at the same time. Sven would be proud.

If only he was here…

* * *

Wow…that was a surprisingly long and hard chapter to write. Don't ask me how the hell they're gonna do negotiations in submarines…

Ah…so the Lee family is sorta corrupted. Poor Doctor, Xiao and Jiang all took different paths, but for the same reason; it was just to leave the family to get away from it all…but did they really escape the corruption?


	22. Brothers

This has got to be the longest chapter I've written so far…7 pages!

Basically, this is finally _starting_ to tie all the random characters together into a recognizable plot.

**Brothers**

"Report, Shiki," commanded Creed as he lounged casually in a chair before the security monitors. The screens cast an eerie blue glow onto his skin, and he seemed even more unstable than before. He was watching Camera 041L, the one showing Train's stasis chamber in Doctor's lab. He was apparently awake and chatting with Sven. Every instinct in his body screamed for him to rush in there and slit Sven's throat, but he resisted. Doctor had said this would be the ultimate test of Train's loyalty. Even though Creed trusted Train to choose him over Sven, he still could not help doubting. Oh how he wished Doctor would install sound monitors with the cameras. With all the money he spent on the lab entrance security, surely a sound spy system would not be too much to ask?

"Regarding Number II's sudden appearance at sub-base Rotenburg, I had sent out Flash to investigate. He has not returned or responded to my summons, however."

"That is…disappointing," commented Creed without breaking eye contact from the monitors.

The other Hoshi members in the shadows snickered at Shiki's incompetence and Creed's obvious disregard

Shiki fumed. How _dare_ those amateurs laugh at a great Taoist such as him? Revenge would be sweet when he obtained control over all of them. But first, the matter of Number II. Shiki immediately dismissed Flash. He could have died for all he cared. Better ask Belga tomorrow when he reported…

"What of you, Sheldon?"

"Green **(1)** is indeed gathering Sweepers to fight against you, Creed-sama. I do not know how he obtained this address, but his group is growing rapidly."

Creed smiled. "How considerate. We should prepare a welcome for them, shouldn't we?"

* * *

Sven was in the middle of explaining Saya's ricochet technique, "Reflect Shot", when he stopped suddenly. Train was about to ask why when the door opened and allowed Doctor in. 

Doctor distractedly said to Train as he rifled through some papers on his desk, "Oh Train-san. Creed-sama will be pleased that you are awake. I will release you in a moment."

After finding a small vanilla envelope, he helped Train out of the chamber, handing him a towel to clean himself off. "Do try to not end up in here so often. Creed-sama nearly had a heart attack."

Train just glared at him, and would have looked intimidating if he was not in the middle of Doctor's lab stark naked and drying his hair into a poofy mess. Doctor decided not to comment, but instead told him as he walked out, "Creed-sama wants to see you; we seem to be expecting some company next week."

* * *

Belze swore. The contact had been expectantly stubborn, and nothing could make him reveal any more information. He had wanted to corner Eve, but she had disappeared as soon as the exchange finished. The whole encounter was a waste of 6 billion dollars. Of course, he had contacted Sephiria with the Lee name for research, but he doubted that anything the 'Lee family friendship' relinquished was going to help. This third encounter that the old man reported would be the last and final negotiation for the Orihalcon mine. The only thing to do until then was to try and keep all Hoshi negotiators away from the Lees and to just wait. 

And perhaps hunt a bomber, Number II thought, as he spotted a lithe and well-muscled blond sneaking into an abandoned train still had some of its passenger cars attached.

_Flash Grenade._

* * *

Rivar Sasitori **(2) **was having a really bad day. Apparently he was prone to sleepwalking or something, because he found himself in the middle of a fist fight when he awoke from a vague and hazy dream. 

He ducked another straight forward punch as his opponent shouted unintelligently. The only words he could pick out were something that sounded like "bee trail." He sighed inwardly. Why couldn't his subconscious sleepwalking mind have picked out a more intelligent opponent? Fighting a guy who was so angry they could only remember one attack pattern was so boring. Not to mention the said guy had a thing for skipping after bees like a little girl in a meadow.

He finally got tired of ducking and punched the man in the face, sending him flying backwards into his companions. Really, the Gerbell Command was not meant to be used on a weakling like this.

"Just give up and go home. I don't have any business with you."

"THE HELL YOU DON'T!" Shouted the man from underneathe the helping hands of his companions.

"Taku…you shouldn't fight _him,_" admonished a blonde chick who wiped a trail of blood of the man's face.

"Just shut. The. Hell. UP!" shouted Taku. He shot a glance at Rivar, and suddenly his rage receded as a smirk lit up his face. "You see? _I _lead the Volts gang now."

The other members of the gang shuffled uncomfortably behind him

Rivar yawned. "As if I care if you led a primary school group of bullies or not," he muttered.

"You..you!" The man seemed to suddenly lack vocabulary. "You traitor! Betrayer! Know that in this city, no one will take kindly to you!"

His screams fell on deaf ears, as Rivar calmly turned around and walked the other way.

* * *

Doctor sat on a rusty swing, entrenched in memories of the playground. Over there was where he used to bury Xiao in the sandbox. To the right was the forest where they played tag in. Behind him were the monkey bars on which they practiced their balance walking across. 4 steps in front of him was where his brother was grievously injured by a bunch of bullies, where he had killed those said bullies, where he had received the Tao to heal little Xiao… 

"Interesting place for us to meet," commented Time Guardian X, Xiao Lee, who was suddenly sitting beside Doctor in the next swing over.

Doctor shrugged. "It's a place where we made our memories."

"And where destiny dragged us apart?" Xiao not so quite asked. Doctor said nothing. "Well, this is business then?"

"Of course," said Doctor, staring down at his hands. "What else is left between us?"

Xiao winced. Doctor ignored it, and instead pulled out a vanilla envelope. "Take a look at this."

Xiao opened it and unfolded the pages.

"This is--?"

"Yes. Subject #001."

Xiao was partly disturbed by the double zeroes Doctor added before the 1. Had he _that_ many test subjects in search of the Blood Opium?

"He was unstable and he developed not an increase in killing intent, but another personality instead," remembered Xiao. The Blood Opium Project had been under Chronos's control at the time, and Xiao was the one ordered to dispose of Subject #001. Unfortunately, Subject had escaped right around the time Xiao received orders from the

Saichirou **(3)**. The Subject had killed over 20 men in its escape, and so Chronos decided to stop dabbling in the search for the mythical drug. That didn't stop the Hoshi from getting interested though. "It was assumed that due to his mental instability, the subject could not function in society and would therefore die more likely than be captured."

"Yes, well he apparently seemed to have functioned quite well. He took on the alias Flash Grenade and got himself running a nice little gang in Rotenburg," said Doctor cynically. "In fact, he's been attracting so much attention that our dear Shiki decided to take control of him and use him to capture Train Heartnet."

Xiao started. "And so the past comes to haunt us," he muttered.

"Indeed," said Doctor. "There is hope, however. Shiki seems to have lost control over him." Doctor pointed to the sheaves of paper in Xiao's hand. "Those papers are the research I've done on his background in the year he's been missing, as well as his whole life before that. Use this information as collaboration for him to join you."

"What do you mean?" Xiao decided to play innocent.

Doctor smiled. "I know about your identity as Green, Disguise Master. You are planning for a group of Sweepers to attack Creed's mansion in a week. Won't this subject, who is a famous former Sweeper, be of great use to you?"

Xiao thought. It was alarming that the Hoshi knew his activities. Maybe he should regroup and attack later? No. The Hoshi had managed to implant a spy in his group, and implant another one in another group just as easily. Calling it off was not an option. Chronos was impatient for some progress against Creed. Was he not sending the men he gathered into their deaths then? It would be suicide for them. At least, with this guy, they might have a chance…

Xiao smiled ruefully, "I guess there is no other option. But, what, may I ask, would the Hoshi gain from this?"

"This is done of my own accord. And my benefits are not public knowledge."

"Oh? So I, as your brother, am not privy to this?"

Doctor just stared at Xiao, as if to say, "don't even joke about it." Their relationship had ended long ago. Telling Xiao of his suspicions of Shiki's loyalty, or lack there of, would indicate Hoshi's weakness. He did not want Shiki to gain more power, so he must first cut all the puppet strings. Unfortunately, making sure they stayed cut meant handing the puppets over to Chronos for protection away from Shiki. The irony.

Doctor's cell phone rang, cutting into the silence that had settled. He looked pointedly at Xiao, before picking up.

"Doctor here."

"_Doctor, where the hell are you?"_

Doctor did not flinch at all from the impatient tone, but instead answered steadily back, "I'm at the Serberof forest collecting water from its streambeds. We are running low on healing water since Train-san seems to be draining our supplies quite fast." True enough, Doctor thought, mentally noting to stop their on the way back to the mansion.

"_Well, Shiki has just reported again. Belze was in Rotenburg because Chronos is trying to obtain the privately owned orihalcon mine from the Lee family…"_

Doctor stiffened. Xiao, overhearing, stared wide-eyed at him. The old family was selling the mine to Chronos?

"…_won't let Chronos have it of course," _Creed was saying, "_The location and deed transfer are going to take place in a week. Conveniently on the same day the Sweepers are supposed to attack. Oh how fun its going to be!"_

Xiao leapt up from his swing, disregarding the fact that the creaking chains were loudly announcing to Creed that there was someone else with Doctor. Belze was in Rotenburg!

Creed, luckily, was to involved in his giddiness to pay any attention to background noise. _"Oh! And guess what Doctor?"_ Creed crowed. _"We're going to need a submarine! I've always wanted to ride one…"_

Doctor efficiently cut off Creed. "Of course Creed-sama. I will be returning now. Good-bye." He hung up.

"Those bastards! To think they're my family!" Xiao was saying.

"It's quite an ingenious way to get rid of us two black sheep," observed Doctor. "Chronos will find out your relationship to your family, and probably try to prosecute you for withholding information and such. At the same time, they would be lending power to Chronos to destroy the Hoshi, and therefore me.

"But Creed-sama will take care of this. You should hurry to Rotenburg and save Flash before Belze finds him." Doctor wondered why it mattered that the blonde puppet of Shiki's lived instead of died under Belze. It wouldn't matter anyways. Either way, Shiki was left with one puppet less. Of course, Subject #001 was the first pioneer of his long slaved Blood Opium project, and for the sake of scientific sentimentalities, as well as hope of doing a little research on him in the future, brought him to consult with Xiao instead of just hunting the man down and killing him.

Business done, Doctor made to leave. Xiao's breath hitched, and he shouted at former Da Lee's back.

"I joined Chronos to hunt you down and bring you back, brother. I haven't given up."

Doctor stopped midstep.

"I know."

He left.

* * *

4 ambushes, 8 verbal sparrings, 3 sweeper fights and a hundreds of terrified screams and stares later, Rivar huffily stomped down the street, a little worse for wear. 

Honestly. This town's means of welcome was a little too much for even Rivar to like. How the hell did he manage to sleepwalk into _this _hellhole?

He felt a tug at his shirt and sprang around, ready for another fight.

"ANIKI!" An angelic cherub smiled sunnily up at him. "Oh! Kou missed you so MUCH! Aniki go poof, and Kou got worried so Kou go ask Taku, but Taku mad at Aniki, so Aniki should apol—ap—apo…say sorry to Taku. Oh and Kou met oniisan and meisan and…"

Rivar stared at the cute little kid with a considerably bigger mouth in confusion. "Er, kid," he overrode the blathering, "You're mistaken."

The smile suddenly turned in trembling lips. Big fat tears shined in the brilliant blue eyes of the small blonde. "Aniki?" Kou asked in a small voice.

"ARGH!" yelled the exasperated Sweeper. He just could not stand puppy eyes and tears.

* * *

"So this is Aniki's and Kou's tree house," explained Kou 2 hours later as he dragged poor Rivar into the abandoned train. "It's not really a tree house, because a tree house has to be in a tree, but Aniki promised that it will become a tree house when he finished kicking all the corrupted people out of the town." 

"Kid. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I. am. Not. Your. Brother. Understand?"

Surprisingly, he received a nod. "Aniki never called me kid. And he had red eyes," observed Kou, looking at Rivar's dark brown ones. "You look a lot like him though."

"Yeah, well who knows? I'm an adopted orphan, so maybe I had a twin brother or sum—"

A huge boom sounded through the passenger car as one side of the wall was diced into small pieces, collapsing in a cloud of dust. A dark figure stepped through the convenient entrance and announced.

"Flash Grenade," a cultured but strong voice rang, "I am commanded to erase your presence by order of Chronos."

This day was getting better and better.

* * *

**(1) **Chapter 121. He's the guy with Thunderhead (see below). 

**(2)** Chapter 121 also. Better known as 'Thunderhead', as Train calls him. In this story line though, that bit of info does not matter since they haven't really met under those terms.

**(3)** Chapter 94, when Sheldon was killing some people, he was asking for information about the Saichirou, the highest order of Chronos.

I know. The subplots are getting a little extensive. But don't worry; there's a perfectly good reason for that. I just won't tell you what it is...


	23. Sweepers Unite

I have to admit, looking back on this story, I'm a bit influenced by Get Backers. I think Ginji and Train have a lot in common…

This is another one of those annoying chapter connectors. It would be wonderful if we could just get to the juicy parts and actually have the entire story make sense, but oh well.

**Sweepers Unite**

Rivar looked up in surprise, and he would have jumped up if he did not have a puddle of Kou in his lap. The weight on his legs pulled him back into calmness, and he pretended to be nonchalant, a mask of indifference slipping onto his face.

"I've no business with Chronos, except perhaps suing you for trashing Kou-chan's treehouse." Though his posture was one of comfortable relaxation, the piercing glare Rivar shot at Belze revealed his annoyance. The day had been fight after fight after fight, and now Chronos was hunting him down, too?

Belze raised his glaive fractionally, and announced in a flat voice, "Release the hostage."

Rivar, realizing Kou potential danger at the glaive's blade point, shoved him off to the side as quickly as possible. "Oookay…wouldn't you like to talk about this and work it out? You see, I'm really tired cuz of all these fights—"

"No negotiations." And with that, Belze launched at Rivar. The misunderstood blonde dodged the attack, but Belze was behind him even as he began his duck. As Belze brought a downward sweep onto him, Rivar did a quick spin and blocked the glaive with his gloves. They quickly parted to opposite sides of the compartment, evaluating each other.

Belze looked like he had just spent an hour in a relaxing spa, and his aura was barely hightened. Rivar, however, was bleeding at the fists, where the orihalcon glaive had cut through his guards.

Suddenly, Belze attacked again. Rivar dodged and blocked. Belze attacked. Rivar blocked. Attack. Block. Attack. Block. It was getting faster and faster, and Rivar's fists were bleeding freely, his tendons cut. It was a desperate situation, rapidly deteriorating, and Belze had no opening.

"ANIKI!" Kou screamed as he jumped in front of Belze's strike. He, startled, stopped it right as it began to cut into Kou's forehead, and a small trail of blood slid down the child's face. Belze cursed inwardly at the child; the clever brat made a save and a distraction! Belze pulled away at Rivar's punch, and though it didn't touch him, it cut his cheek all the same.

Ignoring his annoyance, Belze countered with a series of furious attacks, pushing the man back with no chance of attack. As Rivar was backed up against the wall, Belze prepared to strike the finishing blow by decapitation.

Suddenly, Rivar dropped to the floor and punched the ground. The force sent a mini earthquake at Belze, and the ground fissured under his feet. Belze dropped and disappeared from view.

Rivar slumped against the wall, smiling tiredly against the huddled and terrified figure in the corner. "S'okay, kid. Got him good."

"You called me Kou-chan," the child stated through his tears.

"Yeah, and you call me Aniki, kid. Point?" Darkness was starting to engulf him.

"Only bro—"

A dark figure sudden shot out of the fissure, slightly dirty and one glaive less. It sighed and said, "I apologize for this crude killing method, but I seem to have lost my glaive," Belze pulled out a throwing knife, "It's really meant for decoration purposes, actually, so it's quite dull. You suffer longer than I intend, I'm afraid."

Rivar eyed the throwing knife. It was made of regular metal, very dull, and obviously made for look instead of speed. He could block it with his fists no problem; if only he could move. Darkness flickering at the edge of his vision was slowly closing in.

Before he completely blacked out, he thought he'd obtained his childhood dream of flight.

* * *

A man sat tiredly slumped against his car seat, scenery passing by the limo window as he tired relentlessly on his computer. The window he was typing in said:

_**CNIIB**: Mission failure._

_**CNIS:** Report details._

_**CNIIB**: Contact would not release any information about the client except they are known as the Lee Family. On the outside, they are rich and secluded, living in an old Chinese palace. They're personal record, however, is completely blank. There is no indication of their existence in any government source. I am checking the Chronos database for info._

_**CNIS**: What about your side objective?_

_**CNIIB**: Terminated by you._

_**CNIS**: What do you mean?_

_**CNIIB:** You declared #001 free did you not?_

_**CNIS:** How could I? The Saichirou called again._

_**CNIIB:** But you just personally took him to the hospital!_

_**CNIS**: A fake. _

_**CNIIB**: I thought this info was classified._

_**CNIS: **It was. The others involved in the experiment were all assassinated. Only you and I know._

_**CNIIB**: Number X!_

_**CNIS: **Yes. Number X knows, too. How did you find out?_

_**CNIIB**: No! Number X, Xiao Lee! He's part of the Lee family!_

* * *

Eve stopped at the run down train, hearing a sniffling coming within a compartment. The compartment was rotting, with one wall totally splintered in pieces, and the floor just a large splintered hole. She stopped indecisively at the entrance, not sure whether to enter are not.

She had taken it upon herself to follow Belze when he left after interrogating Ojiisan, but she had quickly lost his trail. Getting distracted, however, would make any chances of catching up with him nil.

Another miserable sniff caught Eve's ears, and she sighed, walking in. Kou was on the ground crying.

"Kou? What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

The boy lifted puffy eyes to face Eve before bursting into a heart wrenching bawl. "ANIKI!"

"Here, kid." A voice sounded behind Eve. She whirled around, her body's nano machines vibrating warmly. Her eyes widened at the sight of the familiar blond, before narrowing.

"Flash Grenade, Bomber, no?" Her voice was cold and sharp, and so concentrated was she on the last bounty Train had focused on that she failed to notice his companion.

The "bounty" frowned. "No. Rivar Sasitori at your service." He did a mock bow.

"And I am Green," interjected his companion.

"You look fine, to Kou, Mr."

"And you must be E.V.E., Tornello's assassin doll?"

Eve's eyes widened in surprise again, but she spoke forcefully, "I am NOBODY'S doll. I am a sweeper." A defiant glint in her eye, a proud tilt in her head.

Green smiled unexpectedly. "Well then, would you like to join me, Eve?"

"What?"

"Join me in storming Creed's castle.

"Join me to find Train Heartnet."

* * *

YAY just like in the manga, they, or Eve in our story, become part of a group of Sweepers that try to storm Creed's castle! And about Shiki…I don't know if I've been switching genders on this person, but does anyone know for sure if Shiki's female or male? Cuz I'm just going to assume he's a he until I hear otherwise.

Next chapter: we FINALLY get back to the main plot. A lot of fighting and surprises. I actually already wrote what is probably chapter 26 or 27, cuz the scene was just so vivid in my mind. Look forward to it.


	24. Reminsense on Cold Winds

**Reminsense on Cold Winds**

Eve looked across the glittering sea, staring intently at the dark island near the horizon. She had been standing motionlessly, except for the occasional impatient flick of her hair when it whipped into her face, at the ship's bow for hours, and the cold wind's fingers clawed to her very bones. Her eyes were watering, but she refused to blink, as if closing her eyes for even one moment would make the island disappear, and take Train and Sven with it.

A warmth suddenly swallowed her as heaviness landed on her shoulders. She glanced down, and realized it was a black trench coat, with silver trimmings.

_Train's? _

Eve's heart pounded painfully as she turned around. A man with messy dark hair, warm brown eyes, and the number XIII tattooed on his chest smiled cheekily back at her.

"TRAIN!" Eve shouted, trying to throw herself at the brunette, but he side stepped swiftly. The messy hair lengthened into smooth locks, the warm brown eyes deepened into dark pools, and the XIII tattoo blurred into just X. Train's cheeky smile disappeared in a face of concern as Xiao peered at Eve closely, but said nothing.

Eve flushed and turned away, going back to staring resolutely ahead. Xiao observed her, feeling pain fully nostalgic.

_He sat in a puddle as the downpour of rain pattered across the playground. The bandages from the hospital were getting soaked, but that was okay, since they covered smooth health skin anyways. _

_It was kind of funny. He had spent 3 years of his childhood running away from bullies to the warm arms of his brother. Those bullies were dead of course, but like always, another gang took over their position. Ironically, those people avoided Xiao like the plague, scattering within his wake so that even his friends grew apprehensive and fearful of him. But that was okay too. He even wished he could get beaten up by someone again, so that his brother would come back and heal him. Maybe if he sat in the rain long enough, he would get sick and Brother Da would come back._

_Splash. Splosh. Splash. Splosh. Footsteps came steadily near him. Was it grandpa again, coming to beg him to go back home? But it wasn't home ever since his brother left, following the blond stranger with unsettling eyes. _

_Black boots came into his view. He looked up, and saw a rain-blurred face surrounded by short black hair, and kind eyes framed with fogged up glasses._

"_Brother?" Xiao rasped, his voice too broken from crying to convey any louder his incredulous delight. _

"_No," the man said, kneeling down into Xiao's puddle, "I'm sorry, but I'm not."_

_Xiao stared at Janus, still wondering if it could be his brother playing a cruel joke. But no, the jaw was more firm, and Da Lee would never be caught dead wearing that flashy magenta shirt, nor those tight black pants that were currently being soaked by the puddle Janus kneeled in._

"_I am Janus. But I will help you find your brother, if you come with me." He extended a hand, his usually jovial face unsmiling. _

_Xiao wordless put his hand into his rough palm._

Xiao chuckled sadly at the memory. Upon reaching Chronos headquarters, Janus had been exasperated by Xiao's constant staring due to his resemblance with is brother, and promptly grew his hair out and obtained contacts. That did not, however, stop Xiao from constantly latching onto him.

"Something funny, Green?" Rivar asked as he stepped onto the dock with Kou tightly attached to his left leg.

"Yes," smiled Xiao innocently, "Your face is quite amusing."

A tick mark appeared on Rivar's forehead. "Well, this beautiful face was elected to come here and tell you that your Sweeper Council is ready for your orders for battle."

"Kou gets to stay here and eat strawberry cake!" interjected the cherub excitedly.

Green continued smiling, but his eyes showed his apprehension at the coming battle. The island Eve was staring at intently was looming closer, and he was not sure that even this shipload of professional sweepers could withstand the ambushes ahead.

* * *

Omg! I'm back despite it being the most stressful year of my high school life! I just felt sorta guilty cuz of the occasional reviews I've been receiving, and it built up until I HAD to write something…even though I don't even remember what this story is about anymore O.oU

Thank you reviewers who remind me that my story still exists.


	25. Ballroom Dancing

Hehe...I'm still alive!

**Ballroom Dancing**

Green and his partners, a blond woman with a deadly whip and a host of poisons stocked in her overflowing bosom, and a nondescript yet chatty teen by the name of Chris, reached the clearing without any hindrance. Creed's manor innocently laid a couple of yards in front of them, with no guards in sight.

Other sweeper groups arrived around the clearing, signaling to each other their success. No one by the looks of them was hurt or missing. Green gave a sigh of relief, but it was immediately stifled

This was past suspicious, it set his teeth on edge with agitation that he had not felt since the storming of Grand Square, when Chronos took over the current headquarters from the ex-government with just I and II. Their killing aura had marked a deep scar in Xiao's heart as he observed the slaughter that painted the pure white building in streaks of dark blood.

Why had there been no resistance? What in the world was Creed planning?

He gave a sigh, and observed its echo by Eve, half hidden by the right wing of the mansion. He raised his hand, which was imitated by the groups around him, and signaled.

* * *

Creed swept into the ball room with a flickering candle in his slender fingers. He was dressed handsomely in a Victorian costume with lace cuffs and maroon velvet with black trimmings. Doctor, dressed similarly in smoky blue was waiting in the dark room, his glasses glinting eerily off the light cast by Creed's lone candle. Ekidonna entered behind Creed, dressed in emerald green with a luxurious trail of cream white accented by green trimmings. Even Maro ambled in, his costume stretching tightly across his bulging stomach, butt, thighs—well, his entire body really.

Creed began to light the many candles in each chandelier hanging from the ceiling and each candle holder on the pristine white tables. He danced and swirled from one candle to another, humming under his breath.

"Watching you so gleeful has made the all the servants flee," commented Train from a shadowy, unlit corner of the massive room.

"Are you nervous, Train-san?" Creed laughed half insanely, the tune still drifting from his lips.

Train chose to ignore the question, instead picking up a nearby candle and helping Creed light a chandelier.

"Expecting many guests?" Train asked nonchalantly. Creed paused a moment to admire how the black coat with gold trimmings and the cream white lace accented Train's fierce golden eyes and pale skin.

"Oh yes," replied Creed as he finished lighting the last candle on the chandelier, "So many wonderful guests to dance and dine with. But I do hope that they are polite enough to—"

The windows on both sides shattered spectacularly, sending a rainbow of glittering glass reflecting in a rainbow of colors under the warm glow of candles.

"—come through the front door," finished Creed without a hint of surprise in his tone.

Dark figures shot through the room, surrounding the Hoshi. Dangerous glaives, swords, and other sharp objects were raised at Creed, who was delighted to be at the center of attention.

"Welcome, guests! I have prepared a ballroom for our delightful party, and I am glad that all of you are here to attend. I would start with a feast, but I think all of you are too excited to sit down and eat, and incapable of having a quiet dinner with intelligent conversation anyways. And so, "Creed picked up a wine glass from a nearby table, which was immediately filled with crimson liquid by Doctor, "let me give you all a toast."

Creed tossed back the glass.

"Let the dance begin!"

* * *

Ch27 is written already...but I don't have 26, so expect them to come together, but not anytime this week (looks at pile of hw in disgust). 


	26. Desperate Measures

Warning: Cliffy. Death. Gore. All that wonderful stuff.

**Desperate Measures**

Eve watched the battle from the air, a pair of angel wings sprouting from her back. She was vaguely aware of blood spurting everywhere, and the sounds of tortured screams swirling like a powerful whirlwind around the dining room. She had only eyes for Train, who stood still in the middle of chaos, a dark shadow next to Creed. As if aware of her stare, Train turned his eyes upward, nostrils flaring slightly, as if he could catch the very scent of her.

Suddenly, his head turned toward her, and his eyes locked on hers, narrowing into glowing slits. Those golden orbs seemed to cast an eerie light of their own, casting ominous shadows across his smooth marble face.

She reminisced about the time he broke into Torneo's mansion to save her, his eyes with the exact same expression. But, she realized, the confident smirk was gone, and all that was left in its place was deep, cold darkness. Her wings shuddered at the very thought, and she lost altitude.

At that very moment, Train disappeared before her eyes. Eve's eyes opened wide, not in surprise, but in an adrenaline rush as she rushed to make her nanomachines transform her hair into steel. Just as the brief fire of transformation happened, she felt a heavy pressure on that region, and realized it was a bullet, caught by her strands of spiraling, steel hair.

She turned around, but all she could see was empty air. A dark pulse from the side, and she folded her wings and dived, just in time to miss another bullet. As she dived, she twisted around, wanting to catch a glimpse of Train, despite being in the middle of battle. There was no one there.

Another pulse of aura, another dodge. Pulse, dodge. Pulse, dodge. Not once did she catch sight of Train, not even a flicker of hair or the trails of his coat. Nothing but that bastard Creed's face laughing freely as he watched in amusement while he scattered the blood of his opponents with his imagine blade in a gracious spin on one foot.

Tears of exhaustion and frustration clouded her vision as sweat ran down her face and dirtied dress. Her wings were ragged from too much flying and dodging, and her shoulder's protested another minute of holding her weight up in the air.

_If I survive this, I am definitely going on diet._

* * *

Sven floated in his quiet world, not asleep, but not awake either. No, he would never be awake in the human sense ever again. He had lost his sight, his hearing, and nearly his mind in the cold darkness the crept and ate through his life, casting his hopes into bottomless pits, until there was no light, no light at all..

He screamed, oh how he had screamed. But no one had responded. Sometimes he would feel a hand over his, and he would grip it tightly, not wanting to loose this only anchor he had in this lonesome world. And he would feel hot wet tears splatter on his cheeks, the rough lace brushing against his neck, the sweep of silken hair across his cheeks, and the familiar scent of peaches.

One day, he dreamed of Train.

_The back of the Black Cat's head, dark hair framed strikingly against a blood red moon. They stood on the windy roof of the skyscraper; the one Train had told him that Saya had claimed for her star gazing. Take care of Eve, Train had said, tossing back his hair to reveal demon eyes, and a cold smile. Creed's laughter rang across the cityscape, as Train jumped off the roof, hands spread carried off by the cold wind, into the darkness and the mad laughter._

He had stopped his screams and he refused to touch the small hands afterwards. He knew it was Eve, the one who soothed his burning blind eyes with her tears everyday, who let his grip turn vise-like around her fragile wrist. Had he not promised to take care of her and show her a carefree world aside from killing? What would Train think of him, being so weak, screaming like a girl in bed?

It took him a week, a week of silence and painful deliberation within himself, as his darkness whispered for him to give up such a hopeless struggle. He slowly opened his foreseeing eye, forcing it open until pain wracked his head, traveled through his body. His eyes watered and begged to be closed, his mind strained tightly within its confines, the link to the foreseeing eye trembling dangerously. And still he did not give up, enduring painful minute by minute, knowing that if he failed, his precarious link to his foreseeing eye would collapse, and even this form of seeing would be lost to him.

And in the ended he turned into a man who walked the world forever in a dream of possible futures, who would never know the actual past, but must piece together the present from his visions of the future.

He dreamed of Train lost in Creed's perception of the past. Sven knew that he had to show Train of the brightness in his future, before he was lost forever. Desperation welled up in his heart, a feeling he had forbidden himself to feel ever since he decided to stop mourning the loss of his sight. The feeling sped his body like poison, traveling up his arms and….

He felt the chains around his wrists rust, crack, and then turn into dust.

* * *

Green walked into the ballroom with a bottle of champagne in one hand, and the a stolen identity on his face. He felt the immediate change in the atmosphere as he stepped over the dead mutilated bodies of his comrades. The gravity here was 10 times that of normal, and the wine bottle weighed like Number I sword. As he got closer to Creed, it steadily increased. At the center of this heaviness was Maro, his hands outstretched, his two feet spread out widely on the ground giving under his weight, his torso leaning forward, and his face red from concentrating Tao as he slowly squashed some weaker Sweepers under their own weight. With his Victorian style coat and lace, however, he looked like a frilly constipated blob. Green struggled not to laugh, and picked up his pace with an overly solemn face.

He shifted uncomfortably in his waiter garb before he paused behind Creed, and poured champagne into the glass in the hand of Creed, who otherwise seemed unawares, still laughing at the Eve's furious battle with Number XIII in the sky. Dark streaks flashed by her as she dove and turned, but no matter how great her aerial maneuvering was, the flashes got faster and faster, following her with flawless consistency. Suddenly, a pale hand shot into Green's view, and he quickly handed the glass to Creed.

"Is it not grand?" Creed asked, half to himself in amusement. "This Eve is a beautiful machine. Look how she dances without any restraint; she does not even notice the gravity pressing upon her, so concentrated she is!"

Green silently poured Creed more champagne, while watching Eve all the while out of the corner of his eyes. Train was slowly torturing her, his movements faster and faster, his bullets biting into her skin a little before she responded in blocking. But he never aimed at anything to vital without a slight pause for Eve to catch up and notice. He was playing with her, like a cat batting at a mouse trapped between its paws.

"CREED YOU BASTARD!!!!" A flash a gold caught Green's eyes, and a whip came flailing at Creed, barbed with dark thorns dripping with poison. Creed sidestepped gracefully, eyes still on the dark flashes of Train. Green swore silently at his blonde partner, dodging the whip with less grace than he could manage. He frowned mentally, sure that he had assigned the mellow-natured Kevin to calm this hot headed woman.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!!! I'M FRIDA, THE LAST SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE CASTRO ROYAL LI—"

"I do apologize," Creed interrupted, a dangerous tone poisoning his sweet voice, "but you are interrupting the show Train is putting on for me. Would you mind terribly to just skew yourself on my sword? I'm a bit too preoccupied to do it myself, I'm afraid."

Frida sputtered, and drew back her whip and slashed. Surprisingly, it slit Creed's right cheek, and a thin trail of black blood appeared. The darkness spread across his cheek at an alarmingly rapid rate, but Creed did not notice. His sword leveled up immediately, his annoyance clear in his cold glinting eyes.

Frida drew back her whip again. She paused mid way, and then gurgled, split cleanly and perfectly in half from head to toe. No blood flowed, and for a disgusting second, Green could see a section of her organs, heart still beating in half her body, laid out in front of him like an anatomy drawing. Creed walked over, and stepped on half her skull, and it burst into bloody gore.

Quietly, Green offered Creed a towel to clean the blood from his cheeks, but could offer no help with the gore splattered all over his pristine blue and white costume.

Then he pulled out his sword in smooth swiftness and beheaded Creed in one sweep.


End file.
